Musk’s X Sign a Distraction for San Francisco Mayor Breed
- Company wouldn’t allow inspectors to check sign safety
- Musk’s flashing X sign removed Monday without a permit
A pedestrian takes a photograph of the new Twitter X logo at the company's headquarters in San Francisco on Saturday.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A large, flashing “X” sign on San Francisco’s Market Street marked the end of Twitter and its bird branding. It also represented a struggle by Mayor London Breed to get the social network’s owner, Elon Musk, to follow city laws.
San Francisco officials had stopped Musk’s company last week from taking down the “Twitter” sign in front of the building, as the crane was obstructing traffic. By the weekend, the old sign was gone and a large X was placed on a rooftop, blinking into nearby residential buildings. An inspector filed a complaint with the city because X did not acquire a permit for the work.