The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, began to trend at the tail end of July 2023 for reportedly buying the popular adult video website, XVideos. Acquisitions are commonplace in the tech industry and the tech billionaire is the current owner of Twitter, after acquiring the micro-blogging platform in 2022.
So, news that he has acquired XVideos made headlines – following his change of Twitter’s name to X – and raised eyebrows. But the question is, did Musk buy the porn site?
Find out.
Did Elon Musk buy XVideos?
There is no verified report that Musk has acquired XVideos. The tech billionaire, who is the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and recently X (formerly Twitter), began to trend on Sunday, July 23, 2023, when Twitter announced its decision to rebrand itself simply as “X.” According to Forbes, Twitter’s decision drew some ridicule owing to its similarity to the adult video streaming site ‘XVideos.’
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Musk himself has reportedly joked about altering other elements of the site’s branding, including the phrase “tweets” and Twitter Blue. Forbes reported that when asked about Twitter Blue’s new name, Musk responded: “Balls. Just … Balls.” He also joked that the phrase “tweets” could make way for “X’s” after the rebrand is complete.
Hence. XVideos began to trend after Twitter users pointed out that the micro-blogging platform’s videos would technically now be called “X videos.” XVideos also acknowledged the trend and thanked Musk for it.
Meanwhile, Twitter’s decision to change its iconic bird logo to “X”—the same name as the platform’s parent company X Corp – came as a surprise to many users. The rebranding officially began on July 23, with the website X.com redirecting to Twitter’s homepage. On Monday, July 24, the blue bird logo disappeared from Twitter’s homepage and was replaced by a stylized white X logo on a black background. The change is also reflected on Twitter’s official account and some secondary accounts like @verified.
“X” has been a decades-long pet project for Musk and he used the brand identity as his vision to transform Twitter into an “everything app”.
Although there is no verified report of Musk buying XVideos, the rumour has generated a lot of speculations on the consequences should that happen.
Let us take a look at the potential consequences.
- Ethical and moral consequences: Musk is known to be a forward-thinking entrepreneur. The billionaire is a risk-taker with his innovation. Unverified sources suggest that he acquired XVideos as part of his plan to merge sexual content with Tesla’s in-car entertainment systems as technology becomes more crucial in our daily lives. The merger will make the automotive and clean energy company stand out from competitors. However, the so-called merger can raise ethical and social responsibility controversies from stakeholders and users.
- Legal drama: Many governments have placed severe restrictions against adult websites and general entertainment businesses. If Musk involves himself with XVideos, chances are he will be heavily involved in the legal drama that will follow.
- Impact on investors and stakeholders: Musk may be a genius businessman, but buying XVideos may be crossing the line for investors and stakeholders of Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter and other businesses he owns. They may be worried about the acquisition’s impact on their interests.
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