Who and what exactly is invested in Elon Musk’s X Holdings, the entity behind the X and X.ai platforms, will become an issue e public record.
In a ruling on Tuesday, a federal judge in California ruled that a detailed corporate disclosure statement from X Holdings must be released, a move that would effectively pull back the curtain on revealing the list of stakeholders in the parent company. of X, formerly known as Twitter. , and X.ai, an AI startup that Musk launched in 2023. Musk bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, taking the company private and laying off roughly three-quarters of its staff.
A group of former Twitter employees sued X last year seeking payment of arbitration fees incurred as a result of disputes with their former employer. Jacob Silverman, a freelance journalist, assisted by the Journalists’ Committee for Freedom of the Press, intervened in the case to reveal the revelation.
While lawyers for Musk and X argued that, “as a matter of routine practice and policy, X Holdings does not publish or make publicly available information about its owners/shareholders and treats such information as confidential,” the judge was not swayed by none supposed. the need for secrecy.
“Here, respondents have presented little more than conjecture in support of their position,” the judge wrote. “The disclosure statement does not contain any scandalous or trade secret information. On the record before it, the court is unable to discern a factual basis for sealing discovery.”
Some of the investors in X Holdings were reported at the time of Musk’s takeover, including Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who poured over $1 billion of his Twitter stock into the company; Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison; and Silicon Valley VCs Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. But Musk has never disclosed a full breakdown of the company’s investors or structure. X properties now have until September 4 to file the document with the court.
Silverman said he decided to intervene in the case because “it’s important for the public to know who owns the platform, who can influence its governance, and who Musk owes.”
“It’s simply about transparency, disclosure and free speech — on behalf of the public and users of X,” Silverman added.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
Are you an X employee or someone with knowledge or a tip to share? Contact Kali Hays securely through The signal at +1-949-280-0267 or at [email protected].
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