Reliable news reports on Thursday, citing informed sources, stated that Anthony Armstrong, who was appointed as chief financial officer of billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI in October 2025, has left the company after a brief tenure of no more than 6 months. This sudden move comes at a critical time for the company, which is experiencing radical shifts in its administrative and operational structure and preparing for a new phase of massive financial expansion in global technology markets.
Armstrong is a prominent figure in the financial and business world, having previously worked as a seasoned dealmaker at the prestigious financial institution Morgan Stanley. His name came to prominence when he provided crucial advice to Elon Musk during his high-profile acquisition of the Twitter platform in a deal valued at $44 billion. During his brief tenure, Armstrong oversaw complex financial operations for both the artificial intelligence company and the social media platform known as X.
Armstrong reported directly to Bret Johnsen, SpaceX’s veteran chief financial officer, who became the top financial officer of the new merged entity after the aerospace company acquired its artificial intelligence counterpart in a record-breaking merger finalized in early February 2026. The company in question did not immediately respond to requests for comment to clarify the reasons for this sudden departure and its impact on the merger plans.
A revolving door in executive management
Armstrong’s departure is the latest link in a continuous chain of resignations and departures among senior executives, an ongoing wave that has shaken leadership ranks and raised questions about internal environment stability. It is worth noting that Armstrong himself was a replacement for Mike Liberatore, the company’s former chief financial officer, who left his post in mid-2025 after repeated disagreements with Musk’s inner circle, later joining the rival sector company OpenAI.
Additionally, Armstrong took on additional financial responsibilities originally assigned to Mahmoud Reza Banki, the outgoing chief financial officer and head of strategy at X. This continuous change and rapid shuffling of leadership positions creates an environment of noticeable instability at a time when the organization needs to unify its efforts and close ranks to face fierce competition in the advanced technology sector.
An exodus of AI engineers
High turnover is not limited to financial management, but extends to many other vital technical roles within the company’s halls. By late March, all 11 original co-founders had completely left the company, leaving Elon Musk as the sole remaining member of the first generation that launched the project.
The ecosystem witnessed a major wave of departures in February 2026, when co-founders Yupeng Tony Wu and Jimmy Ba departed, along with at least 8 prominent engineers. In an attempt to contain the situation and reassure remaining teams, Musk told employees in an all-hands meeting that the organization is undergoing a radical restructuring after its headcount surpassed the 1,000-employee mark, clearly hinting that these departures were driven by strategic internal decisions rather than poaching by competing firms.
High stakes for a tech giant
The departure of the chief financial officer comes at a very sensitive and historic moment for Musk’s growing empire. The major acquisition announced on February 2 valued the combined entity at a staggering $1.25 trillion, distributed between a massive and record valuation for both companies, making it the largest merger in modern corporate history.
This historic deal has produced a set of complex financial data that can be summarized in the following points:
- Unprecedented historic valuation: SpaceX was valued at $1 trillion, while xAI was valued at approximately $250 billion.
- Share exchange structuring: The deal was structured in a way that allows AI investors to receive 0.143 space company shares for every share they own.
- Consolidation of financial operations: The merger required the unification of budgets and strategic plans under a unified financial leadership to handle this massive and complex investment volume.
Preparing for an exceptional initial public offering
Amid these administrative challenges, the merged empire is preparing for a highly anticipated initial public offering that could value the entire organization at up to $1.75 trillion, with ambitious and exceptional plans to raise approximately $75 billion from global financial markets.
Top management recently informed its team of bankers and financial advisors that it intends to reserve a large and significant portion of the offered shares for retail investors to foster public confidence in future technology. Confirming this direction, management will host a special and exclusive event featuring about 1,500 of those investors next June to showcase its future vision and expansion plans.
The loss of the key executive tasked with integrating and unifying financial affairs undoubtedly adds a new layer of uncertainty and execution risk. Despite all this, the merged company is moving steadily toward what could be one of the largest and most complex initial public offerings in the history of financial markets, making administrative stability in the coming months crucial to the success of this trillion-dollar vision.
FAQs
Anthony Armstrong left his position as chief financial officer about 6 months after his appointment, specifically after joining in October 2025.
The historic merger was valued at $1.25 trillion, with SpaceX valued at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion, granting investors 0.143 SpaceX shares for every share held.
The company is preparing for an initial public offering that could value it at up to $1.75 trillion, aiming to raise about $75 billion, with special and reserved attention directed toward retail investors.
