October 7, 2025

Elon Musk has made a splashy move by naming Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley banker, as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of his artificial intelligence startup, xAI. This clever choice puts Armstrong in charge of money matters not just for xAI but also for Elon’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). The Financial Times revealed this exciting update on Tuesday, shining a light on Musk’s tight control of the combined $113 billion xAI-X empire. Armstrong, who advised Musk during the huge $44 billion buyout of X, has grown into one of Musk’s closest helpers. Now, he faces the big challenge of managing finances for both businesses. This appointment arrives when Musk’s companies are seeing quite a few top leaders leave, including X CEO Linda Yaccarino and xAI’s former CFO Mike Liberatore. People familiar with the story told the Financial Times that Armstrong was actually working behind the scenes with xAI for weeks before his official announcement. His social media profile now proudly shows the xAI logo, signaling his official spot on the team. Both Armstrong and xAI stayed tight-lipped when asked for comments. Why all this fuss? Musk has been pouring money and energy into AI, competing hard against giants like OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind. His AI firm xAI is even looking to raise more funds that could value it at a staggering $200 billion — but the deal is still cooking. Armstrong’s mission doesn’t stop there. He must help X recover from a major hit to its advertiser base after Musk relaxed content controls. Armstrong’s solid background in tech mergers at Morgan Stanley and his key role in the Twitter deal give him a sharp edge to handle the tricky financial and business challenges Musk’s ventures face. He takes over from Mike Liberatore, who left xAI after just three months due to disagreements about money and company setup, and also from Mahmoud Reza Banki, the outgoing CFO of X after less than a year. Armstrong’s rise from deal advisor to CFO of two major Musk firms shows how Musk is blending his AI and social media dreams tightly, even as the big team keeps changing.

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Tags: Elon musk, Xai, Anthony armstrong, Morgan stanley, X platform, Artificial intelligence,