Elon Musk took a $40,000 username from a guy who had owned it for 16 years.
He paid him absolutely nothing.
Not even a dollar.
Instead, he was offered a T-shirt and a tour of Twitter’s headquarters.
This is the story of Gene X. Hwang the first
@X
username
2007
- photographer from San Francisco
- co-founder of Orange Photography
- registers
@x
on Twitter
- keeps the username for 16 years
over the years
account grows to ~53,000 followers
receives offers of up to $40,000 for the handle
But he refuses to sell
2014
- hackers steal his x account
- Twitter helps him recover it
July 23, 2023
- Elon Musk announces Twitter will become X
- Gene is in Canada playing in a pinball tournament
He has no idea what’s coming
July 25, 2023
- Twitter officially becomes X
- the company wants x
- Gene receives an email from Twitter support
“Your user handle is affiliated with X Corp.”
his username is taken and gets a new one
@x12345678998765
what X offers him
- company merchandise
- exclusive tour of X headquarters
- meeting with the management team
$0.
Gene even asks if he can have the old blue Twitter bird sign being removed from headquarters.
they say no.
October 2025
X launches its Handle Marketplace
rare usernames can cost $2,500 to over $1 MILLION
users must maintain a paid subscription
lose the subscription, potentially lose the handle
the same company that took x without paying its owner now charges people for access to rare usernames.
16 years building an identity.
$40,000 in offers rejected.
and all he got was an offer of merchandise and an office tour.
BROTHER.
X@X
Position$41Profit−$30.29
