Haofei Wang, director of engineering at Elon Musk’s X, leaves company

Haofei Wang, X’s Director of Engineering, has suddenly departed from the company, sources familiar with the matter confirmed. Wang, who joined X in July 2023, has played a key role in the company’s leadership, serving as a vital link between Elon Musk and the engineering team. More recently, he had been seen internally as X’s de facto head of engineering and product development, especially as Musk increasingly focused on other ventures like xAI and his cryptocurrency interests, such as DOGE.

The reasons for Wang’s departure remain unclear, as neither he nor a company spokesperson provided comments by the time of publication. His sudden exit marks a significant shift in leadership at a company that has seen ongoing restructuring and personnel changes in recent months.

Wang’s departure comes amid several other high-profile additions to X’s engineering team. In January, Mike Dalton and Uday Ruddaraju, both former technical leads at Robinhood, joined X’s engineering leadership. Dalton and Ruddaraju also hold positions at xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, signaling the increasingly close relationship between the two entities.

Despite these leadership changes, X appears to be on an upward trajectory. Recent reports suggest that the company has secured a $44 billion valuation from investors—matching the amount Musk paid for Twitter in 2022. This development comes as X’s business shows signs of recovery, driven in part by Musk’s active presence on the platform and his political influence.

However, Musk’s leadership at X has become more fragmented over time. Since launching his campaign for President in 2024, Musk’s attention has been divided, leaving him with less time to dedicate to the day-to-day operations of X. His increasing focus on xAI and other ventures has raised questions about the company’s long-term direction, particularly regarding Musk’s vision for transforming X into an “everything app,” similar to China’s WeChat.

While progress on this ambitious plan has been slower than expected, sources suggest that work continues on the launch of X Money, a payments platform Musk has promised will roll out later this year. The platform is expected to be a key component of Musk’s broader goal of integrating financial services into X, a move that could reshape the platform’s role in users’ daily lives.