X

Elon Musk buys X.com domain because he's Elon Musk

The Tesla CEO purchased the domain from PayPal, but has no plans to put it to use in the near term.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile | 5G | Big Tech | Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
See full bio
Roger Cheng
Tesla Update v7.0 Enables Self-driving Test In China

Elon Musk is once again the owner of the X.com domain. 

 Getty Images

For Elon Musk , X marks the spot. Or the domain. 

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX confirmed in a tweet that he had purchased the X.com domain from PayPal . Musk said he didn't have any plans for the domain, but that it had "great sentimental value to me."

The X.com domain name was originally a financial services company started by Musk, which was the predecessor to PayPal. While PayPal went on to be acquired by eBay (and then split off again), Musk went off to work on a number of different projects ranging from electric cars to artificial intelligence and space exploration. 

PayPal confirmed the sale. 

"We are delighted to sell the domain x.com back to its previous owner, Elon Musk," said a spokeswoman.

Update, 8:58 a.m. PT: To include a response from PayPal.

Services and Software Guides

VPN
Cybersecurity
Streaming Services
Web Hosting & Websites
Other Services & Software
Services and Software Coupons