Haofei Wang, the director of engineering at X (formerly Twitter), has reportedly left the company, marking another leadership shake-up at Elon Musk’s social media platform. The Verge first reported his departure on Tuesday.
Wang joined X in July 2023 and played a key role in leading the engineering team. He was often seen as a bridge between Musk and the technical staff and had recently been regarded as the de facto head of engineering and product. His role became even more significant as Musk shifted focus to his artificial intelligence venture, xAI, and cryptocurrency DOGE.
Wang’s exit comes as X strengthens its engineering leadership with recent hires Mike Dalton and Uday Ruddaraju, both former Robinhood technical leads. Their LinkedIn profiles indicate they are also involved with xAI, further linking Musk’s AI project with X.
Despite previous challenges, X’s business appears to be stabilising. The company has reportedly secured a $44 billion valuation from investors—the same amount Musk paid when he acquired Twitter in 2022.
Musk’s involvement with X has become more divided, particularly since he began publicly supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump last summer. Meanwhile, his ambitious plan to turn X into an “everything app” similar to China’s WeChat remains in progress.
Musk had previously set a goal for X to handle users’ “entire financial life” by the end of 2024, according to The Verge. While this target has not yet been met, sources suggest the company is still working towards launching its X Money payments platform later this year.