X Once Again Marks the Spot

If you returned from exile on a desert island and took a look at X today for first time in a year, you might reasonably guess that Elon Musk got bored and sold it while you were away.

John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, posted his first message on X on September 3, 2025 after being named interim chief of the platform. He began with a simple “hello”, then shared an iPhone 16 event teaser video dated September 12, 2025 and a promotional clip for the iPhone 16 Pro series. In the same thread he noted Apple TV+’s seven wins at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 8, 2025 and mentioned the opening of Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship store on October 5, 2025.

If Elon Musk had sold X, analysts project the subscription price for X Premium could rise from its current $8 per month to $12 per month. That increase would add $48 annually to the bill of every subscriber who pays for the premium tier. For a household with two premium accounts, the extra cost would approach $100 a year.

Musk acquired X in October 2022 for $44 billion, a deal that immediately triggered a 30 percent decline in the platform’s ad revenue. Since then, insiders say he has been quietly negotiating a sale to a consortium led by private‑equity firm Silver Lake that would value the company at roughly $30 billion. Those talks have persisted despite public denials, suggesting a strategic exit may be closer than most users realize.

Investors should watch for a court hearing scheduled for November 15, 2025 in which Musk must disclose any definitive agreement to sell X. X’s quarterly earnings report, due October 30, 2025, will also reveal whether revenue trends are improving under the current leadership. Should the sale close, X would become the first major social platform to change hands twice in less than three years, a stark reversal of the usual pattern of long‑term founder control.