Elon Musk has appointed Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker, as chief financial officer of artificial intelligence group xAI and social media platform X.
Armstrong has been working with xAI for several weeks and was formally appointed in recent days, the Financial Times reported. His X account now carries an xAI logo alongside his name, signalling his employee status, the publication noted. xAI and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters said.
Armstrong previously advised Musk on the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022 while serving as Morgan Stanley’s global head of technology mergers and acquisitions. Reuters reported that “Armstrong will lead the finance operations for both xAI and social media platform X,” citing several people familiar with the matter. The Financial Times said he has “emerged as a key lieutenant to Musk in recent years.”
The change follows a period of senior departures across Musk’s companies. The Financial Times reported: “Linda Yaccarino, chief executive of X, resigned in July. xAI’s general counsel Robert Keele and its previous CFO Mike Liberatore also left over the summer.” Reuters added that Armstrong “will also be responsible for steering the social media business back to financial stability following an exodus of advertisers after Musk relaxed its content moderation standards.”
The Financial Times said xAI has been discussing a new funding round that would value the company at around $200 billion, while noting that investors said the round had not yet closed. Reuters separately reported that veteran dealmaker Armstrong “was formally appointed the CFO in recent days.” Bloomberg has reported that xAI raised funds at a $200 billion valuation last month and that the company is losing about $1 billion per month due to infrastructure costs.
The Financial Times also described Armstrong’s role during Musk’s Washington stint at the so‑called Department of Government Efficiency, and reported that he will replace Liberatore at xAI and take up the duties of X’s chief financial officer Mahmoud Reza Banki, who is leaving after less than a year in the role.
Musk launched xAI in 2023 “to challenge Big Tech’s AI push,” and has accused industry leaders of excessive censorship and lax safety standards.
