In a candid conversation on Nikhil Kamath’s ‘WTF is’ podcast, Elon Musk opened up about his unusual but consistent fascination with the letter ‘X’. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO joked about the pattern himself, admitting that even he sometimes wonders why the letter appears throughout his companies and personal life.
The viral clip shows Musk laughing when Kamath asked why he prefers the letter so much. Musk explained that the connection began in 1999, when he launched X.com, one of the earliest online banking ideas. At the time, single-letter domain names were rare, and X was one of the few available. He said he wanted the name to symbolise a financial crossroads or exchange, aligning with his vision for a more secure, real-time banking system.
Musk’s link with the letter only grew from there. His aerospace company SpaceX, artificial intelligence firm xAI, and the rebranding of Twitter to X all follow the same theme. Even one of his children is named X, and Tesla’s Model X continues the pattern.
Speaking about his early motivation, Musk said the traditional banking system was slow, fragmented, and insecure. His goal with X.com was to build a single, secure, real-time database that could improve efficiency and challenge existing systems—an idea that eventually evolved into PayPal.
Musk said using X again during the Twitter acquisition felt natural, given how central the letter has been in his journey.
