Chief financial officer of xAI, Anthony Armstrong, has left six months after appointment by Tesla boss, Elon Musk, according to report. The former Morgan Stanley banker assumed the role at xAI in October last year. His departure makes him the latest in a wave of senior figures who have exited the company since the start of the year — a period that has seen every one of xAI’s 11 original co-founders walk out.
Over the last 12 months, xAI and X have lost two chief financial officers, a chief executive, a general counsel, all 11 co-founders who launched the company alongside Musk in 2023, and more than a dozen senior engineers and technical leads. Dozens of additional employees were cut during a broader reorganisation ordered by Musk in February and March this year.
As reported by The Information, Armstrong confirmed the development by responding to a text message by saying: “This is over.” As global head of technology mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, Armstrong was part of the team Musk hired to facilitate the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X) in 2022.
Financial Time had reported in October, citing close sources, that Morgan Stanley provided financing for the deal, and the two grew close as it was hashed out, the Financial Times in a report in October, citing close sources, that Morgan Stanley provided financing for the deal.
Armstrong subsequently served as a senior adviser to the Office of Personnel Management during Musk’s stint at the US the Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration. His appointment as xAI’s CFO came at a moment of acute executive turnover across Musk’s businesses.
Armstrong’s resignation brings to over 14 senior figures that have departed across Musk’s business entities, including the chief executive of X, Linda Yaccarino, who resigned in July last year, then xAI’s general counsel, Robert Keele and its previous CFO, Mike Liberatore who also left over the summer.
Liberatore departed after clashing with members of Musk’s inner circle over corporate structure and aggressive financial targets, according toFinancial Times’ report. He subsequently joined rival OpenAI as finance chief.
