Judge Orders X to Disclose Full Ownership Structure, Revealing Elon Musk's Investor Network

Judge orders X to reveal investors in Elon Musk's social platform

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Elon Musk's X to unseal the list of shareholders involved with X Holdings Corp., giving the public an official look at the investors who aided his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform previously known as Twitter in October 2022. Shareholders named in the document include some of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capitalists and entrepreneurs - as well as a fund linked with hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. The filing lists nearly 100 entities with a stake in X, although many appear to represent different funds controlled by the same firm or person. Other investors include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud; Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey; and 8VC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of intelligence contractor and data analysis platform Palantir. Lesser-known shareholders listed in the filing include UnipolSai S.P.A., an Italian financial services company based in Bologna. Many of the larger investors had previously been reported, but X had not publicly detailed its stakeholders before. X did not immediately return a request for comment. X originally filed the list of investors under seal as part of a lawsuit brought in 2023 by former Twitter employees who alleged that the entrepreneur violated their arbitration agreements by failing to pay them certain fees after he bought the company. Attorneys for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion in July asking the court to unseal the records, on behalf of independent technology journalist Jacob Silverman. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted Silverman's motion to unseal the filing and ordered X to file an unredacted copy on the docket. The Washington Post downloaded an unredacted version of the filing from the court website on Wednesday. It's not clear when it was made available to the public. Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee, said in a statement that the court's ruling vindicates "the interest of the general public in knowing who owns X." In an earlier blog post after the motion requesting the records be unsealed was filed, Silverman wrote that "people have a right to know who owns a company with such a prominent role in shaping public discourse, both in the United States and around the world." Musk, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in recent history, drew interest from investors large and small after he announced his bid to take over the platform. But there are indications that under his ownership X's business has struggled, potentially causing investors' stakes to lose value. X does not routinely release financial data. Musk has launched new subscription options and an AI chatbot, but also made deep staff cuts and changes to content rules that experts say have made the platform home to more unsavory content that can repel users and advertisers. This month, X filed suit against ad industry group the World Federation of Advertisers, alleging that its Global Alliance for Responsible Media initiative that offered recommendations on online safety was unfairly harming X revenue by recommending that companies hold back from buying ads on X. Days later, the project announced it would wind down, while still disputing X's allegations. Fidelity said in a January filing that one of its mutual funds that had valued its stake in X at nearly $20 million in 2022 now judged it to be worth much less, at $5.6 million. Although banks typically sell off loans provided for takeovers, recent data from PitchBook LCD, a financial data firm, indicates that those that provided $13 billion of credit for Musk's Twitter deal have not done so, suggesting markets may have soured on X's prospects. The debt has remained "hung" for longer than any similar deal since the 2008 financial crisis, PitchBook said. In recent weeks, Musk has seized on the presidential election as a way to attract more users to the platform and claimed last week that downloads of the X app reached an "all-time high." The tech entrepreneur, who endorsed former President Donald Trump last month, has courted a right-wing audience on the platform, raising concerns about how it will shape online discourse before the election. Researcher Aaron Schaffer and staff writer Will Oremus contributed to this report.

Judge orders X to reveal investors in Elon Musk's social platform

Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Elon Musk's X to unseal the list of shareholders involved with X Holdings Corp., giving the public an official look at the investors who aided his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform previously known as Twitter in October 2022. Shareholders named in the document include some of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capitalists and entrepreneurs -- as well as a fund linked with hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. The filing lists nearly 100 entities with a stake in X, although many appear to represent different funds controlled by the same firm or person. Other investors include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud; Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey; and 8VC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of intelligence contractor and data analysis platform Palantir. Lesser-known shareholders listed in the filing include UnipolSai S.P.A., an Italian financial services company based in Bologna. Many of the larger investors had previously been reported, but X had not publicly detailed its stakeholders before. X did not immediately return a request for comment. X originally filed the list of investors under seal as part of a lawsuit brought in 2023 by former Twitter employees who alleged that the entrepreneur violated their arbitration agreements by failing to pay them certain fees after he bought the company. Attorneys for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion in July asking the court to unseal the records, on behalf of independent technology journalist Jacob Silverman. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted Silverman's motion to unseal the filing and ordered X to file an unredacted copy on the docket. The Washington Post downloaded an unredacted version of the filing from the court website on Wednesday. It's not clear when it was made available to the public. Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee, said in a statement that the court's ruling vindicates "the interest of the general public in knowing who owns X." In an earlier blog post after the motion requesting the records be unsealed was filed, Silverman wrote that "people have a right to know who owns a company with such a prominent role in shaping public discourse, both in the United States and around the world." Musk, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in recent history, drew interest from investors large and small after he announced his bid to take over the platform. But there are indications that under his ownership X's business has struggled, potentially causing investors' stakes to lose value. X does not routinely release financial data. Musk has launched new subscription options and an AI chatbot, but also made deep staff cuts and changes to content rules that experts say have made the platform home to more unsavory content that can repel users and advertisers. This month, X filed suit against ad industry group the World Federation of Advertisers, alleging that its Global Alliance for Responsible Media initiative that offered recommendations on online safety was unfairly harming X revenue by recommending that companies hold back from buying ads on X. Days later, the project announced it would wind down, while still disputing X's allegations. Fidelity said in a January filing that one of its mutual funds that had valued its stake in X at nearly $20 million in 2022 now judged it to be worth much less, at $5.6 million. Although banks typically sell off loans provided for takeovers, recent data from PitchBook LCD, a financial data firm, indicates that those that provided $13 billion of credit for Musk's Twitter deal have not done so, suggesting markets may have soured on X's prospects. The debt has remained "hung" for longer than any similar deal since the 2008 financial crisis, PitchBook said. In recent weeks, Musk has seized on the presidential election as a way to attract more users to the platform and claimed last week that downloads of the X app reached an "all-time high." The tech entrepreneur, who endorsed former president Donald Trump last month, has courted a right-wing audience on the platform, raising concerns about how it will shape online discourse ahead of the election. Researcher Aaron Schaffer and staff writer Will Oremus contributed to this report.

These Are the Investors Who Helped Elon Musk Acquire Twitter in 2022

A newly unsealed court document unveils nearly 100 stakeholders in Elon Musk's X. Nearly two years after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now X, for $44 billion, the official list of investors who took part in the October 2022 deal has finally been revealed. Shareholders include the likes of investor Bill Ackman, hip-hop figure Sean Combs and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, according to a recently unsealed document that was first reported by The Washington Post. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters The list of stakeholders backing Musk's purchase was initially filed by X in 2023 as part of a lawsuit filed by former employees requesting the payment of arbitration fees from their employer. The document was unsealed on Aug. 20 following a motion from the Reports Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit that provides legal resources to journalists, to make the records public on behalf of independent reporter Jacob Silverman. The nearly 100 stakeholders listed on the document include a number of venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, which both recently participated in a $6 billion funding round for Musk's A.I. startup xAI. The firm 8VC, led by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, also helped Musk with his X acquisition and is additionally a backer of Musk's tunneling venture The Boring Company. Gigafund, another Boring Company investor, invested in X too; as did Scott Nolan, a former SpaceX engineer who is a now a partner at Peter Thiel's venture capital firm Founders Fund. Some of the list's inclusions aren't all that surprising. The cryptocurrency exchange Binance, for example, had previously revealed that it invested $500 million in 2022 for Musk's takeover. And it's no shock that investor Cathie Wood, a longtime Musk fan, was involved in the acquisition through a subsidiary of her Ark Venture Fund. Musk himself, too, was named in the document under the Elon Musk Revocable Trust. Despite having previously engaged in public clashes with Musk over his vision for the social media platform, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey also aided the 2022 purchase under an entity named Jack Dorsey Remainder LLC. Other prominent names officially revealed as X stakeholders include Bill Ackman, whose Pershing Square Foundation -- a private foundation associated with his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management -- was included among the list. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a former board member at Musk's Tesla, is an X investor; as is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, another backer of xAI. Sean Combs Capital, a fund linked with rapper Sean Combs, was also named in the unsealed document. Was X a good investment? Almost 30 entities on the document are connected to the mutual fund manager Fidelity Investments. The asset manager recently revealed that its investment in X has resulted in losses, disclosing in a November portfolio update that its stake in the social media platform was valued at $5.6 million -- a 72 percent decrease from its value in Oct. 2022. Despite introducing features that charge users for verification and use of its A.I. chatbot Grok, X still primarily relies on ad revenue for income. But Musk's loosening of content moderation policies has continued to spook advertisers, with the platform reportedly seeing a 24 percent decrease in ad revenue for the first half of 2024 at $744 million, compared to $982 million in the first six months of 2023. Earlier this month, X sued the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, an advertising industry coalition, for allegedly impacting X's revenue by influencing brands to take part in an ad boycott on the platform. The group has since shut down, stating that while it denies Musk's claims, it doesn't have the financial resources to fight his legal claims and continue operating.

Elon Musk's X must disclose full ownership structure for first time

Who and what exactly is invested in Elon Musk's X Holdings, the entity behind the X platform and X.ai, is about to become a matter of public record. In a Tuesday ruling, a federal judge in California decided that a detailed corporate disclosure statement from X Holdings should be unsealed, a move that would effectively pull the curtain back to reveal the list of stakeholders in the parent company of X, formerly know as Twitter, and X.ai, an AI startup that Musk launched in 2023. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, taking the company private and laying off roughly three quarters of its staff. A group of former Twitter employees sued X last year seeking payment of arbitration fees incurred as a result of disputes with their former employer. Jacob Silverman, a freelance journalist, aided by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, intervened in the case in order to get the disclosure unsealed. While attorneys for Musk and X argued that, "as a matter of routine practice and policy, X holdings does not publish or make publicly available information regarding its owners/shareholders and treats such information as confidential," the judge was not swayed by any purported need for secrecy. "Here, respondents have presented little more than conjecture in support of their position," the judge wrote. "The disclosure statement does not contain any scandalous information or trade secrets. On the record before it, the court is unable to discern a factual basis for sealing the disclosure." Several of the investors in X Holdings were reported at the time of Musk's takeover including Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who rolled over more than $1 billion worth of Twitter his shares into the company, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Silicon Valley VCs Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. But Musk has never disclosed a complete breakdown of investors or the company's structure. X holdings now has until September 4 to file the document in court. Silverman said he decided to intervene in the case because "it's important that the public knows who owns the platform, who might influence its governance, and who Musk owes." "Simply, it's about transparency, disclosure, and free speech -- on behalf of the public and X's users," Silverman added.