Business

Elon Musk Changes X Logo—And Then Changes It Back Again

July 26, 2023

Topline

Elon Musk on Tuesday changed X’s logo—and changed it back again—just days after replacing Twitter’s blue bird, as he embarks on the platform’s swift rebrand into an “everything app” that has surprised onlookers with its speed, apparent lack of planning and decision to abandon well-known and valuable assets.

Elon Musk wants to build an “everything app” called X.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

The updated logo was a modest departure from the original—a white “X” on a black background—and the letter was drawn with slightly thicker lines.

Musk showed off the new design in a video posted to X and it was reportedly deployed on the platform’s homepage and as Musk’s profile picture.

Hours later, the billionaire changed his mind and said he had reverted the design to its original look.

“I don’t like the thicker bars,” he explained in an X post.

The Twitter, or X, website and Musk’s profile both show the original “X” design with thinner lines.

Musk said further changes can be expected as the “logo will evolve over time.”

News Peg

Musk first teased the decision to move away from Twitter’s avian roots at the weekend and had done away with many key features—including the logo, name and language used to describe actions on the platform—by Monday, when he installed a new logo, which, unconventionally, Musk had crowdsourced from followers. The transition to X is unsurprising as Musk has been frank about his desire to build an “everything app” like China’s WeChat and repeatedly said he plans to call this superapp X and had already changed the platform’s business name to X Corp. The name is also in line with his other ventures, such as xAI and SpaceX. What did come as a surprise to many onlookers was the rapid pace of Twitter’s rebrand to “X” and the decision to completely do away with valuable property linked to the social media brand, most notably its iconic blue bird, Larry, and the name itself.

What To Watch For

Having left Twitter behind, X must build its brand from the ground up. This is one of the key reasons why the Twitter-X rebrand is a stark contrast to the staid and considered campaigns many companies pursue as it leaves billions in brand equity on the table, experts told Forbes. While it’s true Musk has “walked away from an incredibly valuable intangible asset,” Marisa Mulvihill, global practice lead for brand and activation at growth consultancy Prophet, told Forbes both Twitter and Musk’s high profiles give X a significant advantage when it comes to building brand value. “‘X’ will be the brand of the company and of the platform, so IF (and this is a big if) the consumer experience is delivered well, X could build equity quite quickly,” Mulvihill said. Sam Ashken, a senior strategy director at brand consultancy Interbrand, told Forbes X would need to quickly differentiate itself from Twitter and add “everything app” features or risk becoming a “branding dud.”

Crucial Quote

The sudden shift away from Twitter, a brand experts believe was worth billions of dollars, has been a key talking point among Musk’s critics. Responding to a post claiming the rebrand wiped between $4 billion and $20 billion in value, Musk posted: “X will become the most valuable brand on Earth. Make [sic] my words.”

What We Don’t Know

Twitter had an outsized influence on language and culture. It introduced terms like “tweet” or “tweeting” to our cultural lexicon and it’s not clear what the analogues are now the platform is X.

Forbes Valuation

$239.9 billion. That’s how much Forbes estimates Musk is worth, according to our real time tracker. He leads Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, ahead of French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault by around $15 billion and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by around $90 billion, who are in second and third place, respectively. Musk’s wealth largely comes from his stake in electric carmaker Tesla and a cadre of valuable companies he cofounded, including rocket firm SpaceX, brain implant company Neuralink and tunneling enterprise Boring Company. He controversially acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.