The owner of the @x Twitter handle, Gene X Hwang of Orange Photography, revealed that Twitter’s rebranding to X resulted in the company taking over his account.
He claimed that this happened without any prior warning or financial compensation a few hours after a tweet from Elon musk’s parody account offered to buy the account for a whooping $69,420,420.69.
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In a letter, X thanked Hwang for his loyalty and offered him X merchandise and a tour of their HQ as a token of appreciation.
However, the rebranding process was far from smooth, with various mishaps occurring.
Twitter failed to secure intellectual property rights to the “X” brand, and the city did not grant permission to remove the Twitter signage from the building, causing interference from the police.
The website and app were also not fully updated, still referring to Twitter instead of X.
Regarding the @x Twitter handle, Hwang had set it to private, and he was surprised that the company didn’t reach out to discuss the handle’s fate during the corporate rebranding.
He expressed his openness to a discussion if they wanted the handle, but he was not offered any financial compensation for losing it.
Whoever this is, I’m willing to buy this account from you for a whopping:
$69,420,420.69
Please let me know, thanks pic.twitter.com/fDLvNplCDR
— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) July 25, 2023
Twitter unilaterally reassigned the handle, and all of Hwang’s data, including followers and following, was transferred to his new handle, @x1234567998765.
Despite losing his valuable online username, Hwang maintained a good sense of humor about the situation and tweeted, “Alls well that ends well.”
Alls well that ends well
— x (@x12345678998765) July 26, 2023
While he felt it would have been nice to be compensated for the handle’s value to him, he accepted the outcome.
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, now X, has been characterized by significant changes and upheaval.
The value of a one-letter username on X may be questionable, given the uncertainty surrounding the company’s future and brand value.
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The entire rebranding process, including the handling of the @x Twitter handle, has been seen as somewhat humorous, considering the radical changes Musk made to the platform after acquiring it.
The future of X remains uncertain, and it’s unclear why Musk chose to buy the company in the first place, as he dismantled various features and changed its identity.
