April 9 - Anthony Armstrong, named chief financial officer of xAI in October, has exited the company as part of a broader wave of senior-level departures, a report citing two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Armstrong had been overseeing finance functions for both xAI and the social media platform X. Before joining xAI, he worked as a banker at Morgan Stanley and served as an adviser to Elon Musk during the acquisition of X.
Within the corporate reporting structure he answered to Bret Johnsen. Johnsen served as the finance chief of the combined entity following the merger that united xAI and SpaceX, according to earlier coverage. Armstrong’s remit included steering finance operations across the merged businesses.
At the social media business, Armstrong was charged with helping restore financial stability after an exodus of advertisers that followed a relaxation of content moderation standards under Musk’s ownership. That advertiser departure left the platform working to rebuild revenue while managing broader operational challenges.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, SpaceX is moving forward with plans for a highly anticipated initial public offering. The plan, as previously outlined to bankers, seeks to raise roughly $75 billion and could value the space company at as much as $1.75 trillion. Executives described plans at a bankers’ meeting to reserve a sizable portion of shares for retail investors and to host 1,500 of them at an event scheduled for June.
Armstrong’s departure joins other senior exits at the linked organizations, underscoring a period of leadership turnover as they prepare for major strategic milestones and work to stabilise commercial operations at the social platform.
Context and implications
- Armstrong’s background in investment banking and his advisory role in the X acquisition framed his brief tenure as xAI CFO.
- His responsibilities covered finance for both xAI and X, making his role central to efforts to stabilise the social media platform’s revenues.
- The planned SpaceX IPO remains a major capital markets event outlined to bankers, including retail allotments and a June investor event.