Elon Musk’s X had to reveal the names of all its investors, and the list includes some high-profile names.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a list of shareholders in social media platform X Holdings after a journalism nonprofit filed a motion in July seeking to see the records.
The filing includes Silicon Valley giants Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity and Sequoia, as well as asset managers such as Fidelity. High-net-worth individuals including Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, US rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and X founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey are also investors.
Company X did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment, sent outside normal business hours.
Musk bought publicly traded company X, then known as Twitter, for $44 billion in late 2022. He also borrowed from banks including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, BNP Paribas, Mizuho and Societe Generale to fund the acquisition.
Company X provided the investor list as part of a lawsuit filed last year by former Twitter employees who alleged that Musk had not paid them certain amounts after taking over the company.
Lawyers for the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion in July seeking unsealed records on behalf of independent technology journalist Jacob Silverman.
The nonprofit said it was in the public’s best interest to make the investor list public because X is an important forum for discussion.
Representatives for X Company disputed the allegations, writing in court documents: “Individuals and entities who invest in and acquire ownership interests in private companies such as X Holdings expect such information to remain private.”
The lawyers also said the disclosure could damage Company X’s competitive position and give a prospective partner an unfair advantage.
X, which makes money from premium subscriptions and advertising, saw its advertising revenue plummet after Musk’s acquisition, and some major advertisers fled the platform after it changed ownership.
Musk also laid off a number of sales and safety staff and reinstated previously banned accounts.
