An extraordinary Twitter breach compromises everyone from Elon Musk to Kanye West

A host of other billionaires were implicated in the apparent bitcoin scam.

Hackers hijacked the Twitter accounts of some of America’s wealthiest people and well-established brands in an extraordinary security lapse on Wednesday.

Twitter accounts belonging to billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, and Elon Musk sent out messages promising bitcoin payments as part of a scam that unfolded on Wednesday afternoon. Also falling prey were some of the most well-known and secure American companies, like Apple, that shared similar messages to their millions of followers.

All told, the messages raised questions about both the security protocols of America’s iconic businesses and its leaders, along with the practices at Twitter that may have led to the breach.

Twitter said that it was “looking into this” and expected to have more comment shortly.

The messages slinkered out on Wednesday afternoon — Musk and Gates were some of the first to appear corrupted. Within about an hour, Kanye West — who has almost 30 million followers on the website — was telling his fans that he would double up to $10 million in Bitcoin payments sent to his account.

Many of the tweets were deleted within minutes of posting, but the breach has yet to show signs of abating.

Support Vox’s explanatory journalism

Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today.