A federal judge has ordered Elon Musk’s X to make public its list of shareholders, providing an official glimpse into the investors who supported his $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform in October 2022.
The Washington Post, which first made the unredacted document public, reports that the list includes nearly 100 entities with stakes in X Holdings Corp.
Among the prominent investors are well-known Silicon Valley figures such as venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital Fund, and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud and 8VC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, are also named. The list also includes a fund associated with the disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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The unsealing of this information stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023 by former Twitter employees alleging that Musk violated their arbitration agreements by failing to pay certain fees after the acquisition. US District Judge Susan Illston granted a motion to unseal the records, filed on behalf of independent technology journalist Jacob Silverman by attorneys for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Katie Townsend, legal director for the Reporters Committee, said that the court’s ruling validates “the interest of the general public in knowing who owns X.” Silverman had previously argued for the public’s right to know the ownership of a company that plays a significant role in shaping global public discourse.
While Musk’s takeover attracted diverse investors, reports suggest that X’s business has faced challenges under his ownership. Fidelity recently devalued its stake in X by over 70%, and banks that provided credit for the deal have reportedly been unable to sell off the loans, it’s been called the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
Interestingly, the disclosure of this information appears to be an unintended consequence of legal maneuvering by Musk’s lawyers in an employee severance case. Their attempt to move the case to federal court, which requires corporate disclosure, ultimately led to the court order for X Corp to unseal its investor list.
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