You can’t buy Twitter stock on any public stock exchange. The company, now called X, was taken private by Elon Musk in October 2022 after a $44 billion acquisition. Its shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, where they had traded under the ticker TWTR, and the company no longer files public financial reports. That means you can’t open a brokerage account and place an order the way you would for Apple or Amazon. But there are a few indirect ways to get exposure to X if you’re determined.
Why Twitter Stock No Longer Trades Publicly
Musk signed a definitive merger agreement with Twitter’s board in April 2022 and completed the buyout that fall. When a public company is acquired and taken private, existing shareholders receive a cash payout (in this case, $54.20 per share), and the stock stops trading. X Corp, the entity that replaced Twitter, Inc., is now a privately held company. Its shares are not listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ, or any other public exchange.
Private companies aren’t required to disclose revenue, profit, or other financials the way public companies are. That makes it harder to evaluate what X is actually worth today, and it limits the ways ordinary investors can participate.
Investing Through Companies With X Stakes
Several publicly traded companies and well-known investors hold equity in X, which means buying their stock gives you indirect, partial exposure. The largest outside shareholder is Kingdom Holding Company, controlled by Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who rolled over roughly $1.89 billion in former Twitter shares at the time of the deal. Kingdom Holding trades on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), which most U.S. brokerages don’t offer direct access to.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison also invested in the acquisition. If you own Oracle (ORCL) shares, a tiny fraction of Oracle’s overall value is connected to Ellison’s personal fortune, but Oracle itself is not a direct holder of X equity. Fidelity invested $300 million at the time of the acquisition, though Fidelity is a private company and not something you can buy shares of on an exchange either.
The honest reality is that none of these indirect routes give you meaningful, targeted exposure to X. Buying Oracle stock because its co-founder has a personal stake in X is not the same as owning X. These connections are too diluted to move the needle in your portfolio based on X’s performance alone.
Buying Private Shares on Secondary Markets
Private company shares sometimes trade on secondary markets, which are platforms where early employees, founders, or existing investors sell their stakes to new buyers. Platforms like Nasdaq Private Market (SecondMarket) facilitate these transactions for select private companies.
There are significant barriers. First, you typically need to be an accredited investor, which the SEC defines as someone with a net worth above $1 million (excluding your primary home) or annual income above $200,000 individually ($300,000 with a spouse) for the past two years. Second, the private company itself often has to approve any share transfer. X may restrict or block secondary sales entirely, and there’s no guarantee shares are available at any given time.
Even when shares are available, pricing is opaque. Unlike public stocks with real-time quotes, private share prices are negotiated between buyer and seller, often with limited financial data to guide you. Transaction fees on secondary platforms also tend to be higher than standard brokerage commissions. This route is realistic only for high-net-worth investors comfortable with illiquidity and limited transparency.
Could X Go Public Again?
There have been signals that X could eventually return to public markets. In early 2025, reports emerged that Musk’s broader corporate empire, which includes SpaceX, Starlink, and AI company xAI alongside X, was exploring ways to raise capital. One scenario involved a combined entity aiming for a valuation between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion.
No official IPO date for X has been announced. Whether X returns to public markets as a standalone company, as part of a larger Musk holding company, or not at all remains uncertain. If an IPO does happen, shares would become available through any standard brokerage account, just like any other newly listed stock. Until then, there is no straightforward way for most investors to buy in.
What to Do in the Meantime
If your interest in X is really about investing in social media or digital advertising, you can buy shares of publicly traded competitors. Meta Platforms (META), Snap (SNAP), Pinterest (PINS), and Reddit (RDDT) all trade on major U.S. exchanges and operate in overlapping markets. These give you direct ownership, real-time pricing, full financial disclosures, and the ability to sell whenever you want.
If your interest is specifically in Musk-led companies, Tesla (TSLA) is the only one currently trading on a public exchange. It won’t give you exposure to X’s business, but it’s the most accessible way to invest in Musk’s broader vision as a public-market investor.