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Elon Musk’s X discloses investors in court filing

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Elon Musk’s social media platform X to unseal the list of shareholders involved with X Holdings Corp., giving the public an official peek at the investors who aided Musk’s $44 billion purchase in October 2022 of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Shareholders mentioned in the document include some of Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalists and entrepreneurs — as well as a fund connected with hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The filing lists almost 100 entities with a stake in X, although many seem to represent diverse funds controlled by the same firm or person. Other investors include Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; Twitter founder and past CEO Jack Dorsey; and a venture capital firm 8VC that was 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 earlier been reported, but X had never detailed its stakeholders publicly before. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

X originally filed the list of investors under seal as part of a litigation brought in 2023 by past Twitter employees who alleged that the tech magnate dishonored their arbitration agreements by failing to pay them particular fees after he bought the company. In July, attorneys for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion requesting the court to unseal the records, on behalf of Jacob Silverman (independent technology journalist).

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge (Susan Illston) granted Jacob’s motion to unseal the filing and ordered X to file an unredacted copy on the docket. On Wednesday, the Washington Post downloaded an unredacted version of the filing from the court website. It’s unclear when it was made available to the public.

Legal director for the Reporters Committee (Katie Townsend) said in a statement that the court’s ruling upholds “the interest of the general public in knowing who owns X.” In an earlier blog post after the motion demanding the records be unsealed was filed, Silverman stated 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 businesspersons in recent history, drew interest from investors small and large after he publicized his bid to take over the platform. But there are indications that under his proprietorship X’s business has gone downhill, potentially causing investors’ stakes to lose worth. X does not regularly release financial data.

 

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