In the court order mandating that the social media platform release a list of non-redacted names, the court maintained that Twitter/X had put itself into the position that it now found itself in.
Following a federal lawsuit over Elon Musk’s alleged failure to pay arbitration fees after his purchase of Twitter/X, the company was forced to disclose its list of shareholders. The list includes entities connected to Sean “Diddy” Combs, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, as well as billionaire hedge fund manager Ackman and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
According to The Hollywood Reporter the filing, which resulted in a victory for the plaintiffs, provides a peek into who financed Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter/X in October 2023.
The company, of course, fought to have the names of its investors hidden, citing that “[n]o publicly held corporation owns 10% or more,” but a journalist and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press argued that Twitter/X’s position in the global marketplace of ideas necessitated understanding the financial motives that could potentially shape the platform.
In the court order mandating that the social media platform release a list of non-redacted names, the court maintained that Twitter/X had put itself into the position that it now found itself in. The platform, however, decided to move the case to the Northern District of California federal court which has rules around disclosing entities with a financial stake in the lawsuit.
According to the federal judge’s ruling, “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.”
According to Fortune, Jacob Silverman, the journalist who worked with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the outlet that it was important for the public to know who was potentially influencing Twitter/X.
“Simply, it’s about transparency, disclosure, and free speech—on behalf of the public and X’s users,” Silverman said, before continuing, “it’s important that the public knows who owns the platform, who might influence its governance, and who Musk owes.”
The Washington Post was the first outlet to release a full list of the stakeholders and according to their reporting, a fund linked to Combs was among the investors in Musk’s bid to purchase Twitter/X. They also noted that many of the funds listed on the filing are controlled by the same firm or person. In addition to Combs and the Saudi Crown Prince, other investors include venture capital firm Andresson Horowitz, Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, and 8VC, a venture capital firm started by Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of an intelligence contractor and data analysis platform, Palantir.
According to Rolling Stone, New York Times reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac detail an anecdote in their forthcoming book Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter regarding Musk trying to assure Datavio Samuels, the CEO of Revolt, that the surge in racist content wouldn’t alienate Black users due to the surge in hate speech on the platform.
“I don’t know if you know this, but Puff [one of Combs’ former stage names] is an investor in Twitter.” Musk told Samuels, “You know, he’s a good friend of mine. We text a lot.”
According to their reporting, Fidelity Investments, a financial services company, actually provides the clearest picture of the potential loss for those who invested in Musk’s purchase of Twitter/X. The company cut its initial $20 million valuation to approximately $5.6 million, representing a 71.5% loss.
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