Elon Musk recently shook up Twitter, giving it a fresh new look as “X.” However, this makeover came with a twist—securing the coveted @X handle. Little did we know, it had been in the possession of a San Francisco-based photographer named Gene X Hwang since 2007. With all the buzz surrounding this move, let’s take a moment to get to know the man behind the handle.

Gene X Hwang is not just an ordinary photographer; he’s also a co-founder of Orange Photography, a company that specializes in corporate photography and video services across the United States. They cater to Event Planners, Event Marketers, and PR & Marketing Professionals, offering personalized and scalable solutions. Furthermore, Gene is proud to have steered Orange Photography to become the first photography studio to receive the San Francisco Green Business designation.

But that’s not all—besides capturing moments through the lens, Gene also has a passion for physique photography and admits to being a pinball addict. He’s a man of diverse interests and talents.

Despite having held the @X handle for an impressive 16 years, Gene faced an unexpected twist in his online identity. Twitter swooped in and reclaimed the handle, notifying him through email that it now belongs to the platform. Surprisingly, there was no financial compensation involved in this handover. Instead, Twitter offered to transfer the @X account’s history and followers to a new handle of Gene’s choice, along with some merchandise and a possible meeting with the management team. However, Gene decided to skip the meeting, fearing it might be a bit awkward.

Taking it all in stride, Gene embraced the change and adopted the temporary handle @x12345678998765 while he pondered a new name for his account. He did express that receiving some form of compensation for his original @X account would have been a nice gesture, but he didn’t feel it was a necessity.

In the past, Gene had been open to parting with the @X handle if the right offer came along. However, Twitter never reached out to him before rebranding as X. It’s interesting to note that usernames on social media platforms can hold significant value, as other users have experienced offers for their unique handles in the past.