TLDR:
- X (formerly Twitter) was forced to reveal its full list of shareholders as of June 2023
- Investors include tech industry names like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital
- Lesser-known backers include Sean “Diddy” Combs and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Foundation
- Some shareholders, like Jack Dorsey, rolled over their Twitter shares into X stakes
- The list includes 95 names and legal entities, providing insight into X’s ownership structure
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has been forced to disclose its full list of shareholders as of June 2023, following a court order.
The list, which includes 95 names and legal entities, provides a glimpse into the diverse group of investors backing Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.
Many of the shareholders are well-known figures in the tech industry, including venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Sequoia Capital. Oracle founder Larry Ellison and cryptocurrency exchange Binance are also among the investors.
However, the list also revealed some unexpected names. Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music mogul and entrepreneur, is an investor through Sean Combs Capital.
Bill Ackman, the activist investor recently in the news for his campaign against activism at Ivy League schools, holds shares through the Pershing Square Foundation.
The shareholder list includes a mix of individuals, venture capital firms, and international entities. For example, Vy Capital, a UAE-based venture capital firm, and Q Tetris Holdings LLC, which appears to have ties to the Qatari government, are listed as investors.
Some of the shareholders were investors in Twitter before Musk’s takeover. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud reportedly rolled over their Twitter shares into stakes in X.
The list shows two entries for Prince Alwaleed and another for his Kingdom Holding Company, which was previously the largest outside shareholder of Twitter.
The disclosure also sheds light on the involvement of financial institutions. There are 26 entries related to Fidelity, the mutual fund company, suggesting a significant investment from this sector.
While the list doesn’t include ownership amounts, it provides valuable information for researchers, journalists, and the public. The official legal names of the entities owning a piece of X offer a starting point for further investigation into the company’s ownership structure and potential influences.
The court filing containing the list of shareholders is dated June 9, 2023, but it was unsealed this week in response to a motion from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on behalf of independent journalist Jacob Silverman.
Silverman acknowledged that while many of Musk’s backers were already known, the list is
“a great starting point for journalists, researchers, regulators, activists, and anyone else who wants to know what’s going on behind the scenes of this important company.”
