Tech journalist, represented by RCFP attorneys, forces disclosure of X Corp.’s investors

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud. Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. 

These are among the names listed in a newly unsealed corporate disclosure statement showing the investors who helped billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk buy Twitter and later turn it into X Corp. The statement was made publicly available on the docket of a federal court in California this week after tech journalist Jacob Silverman, represented by attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, successfully sought to make the records available to the public. Attorneys with Jassy Vick Carolan LLP also served as co-counsel for Silverman.

The list of shareholders had previously been filed under seal in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as part of a civil lawsuit brought by former employees of Twitter. But on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted a motion Silverman filed to intervene in the case for the purpose of unsealing the corporate disclosure statement, finding that X Corp. “did not show good cause” to keep the document hidden from the public.

“Reporters Committee attorneys are very pleased with the district court’s ruling, which vindicates not only the interest of our client, Mr. Silverman, but also the interest of the general public in knowing who owns X,” said Katie Townsend, the Reporters Committee’s deputy executive director and legal director. “Corporate ownership information of this kind is routinely disclosed in civil litigation and, as the district court correctly concluded, there is no reason why it should have been sealed here.”

As Silverman, The Washington Post, and others reported, there are nearly 100 entities listed as having an ownership stake in X, including some well-known Silicon Valley investors. In addition to big names like Dorsey, the Saudi prince, and Combs, the company’s shareholders include venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and 8VC and the cryptocurrency trading platform Binance. 

The newly disclosed list of shareholders provides answers to questions about the platform’s ownership that were asked in the wake of Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter in 2022. The document was originally filed in a lawsuit filed by former Twitter employees alleging that Musk violated their arbitration agreements by failing to pay them certain arbitration-related fees after he bought the company. 

As part of the litigation, X Corp. initially filed a corporate disclosure statement that stated that “X Corp. is wholly owned by X Holdings Corp.” and that “[n]o publicly held corporation owns 10% or more of X Corp.’s or X Holdings Corp.’s stock.” But the statement did not otherwise identify the individuals or entities with a financial interest at stake in the case, as the court’s rules required.

After the former employee plaintiffs asked the court to order X Corp. to disclose that information, the company filed it under seal, making it available to them but not to the public. 

With free legal support from Reporters Committee attorneys, Silverman sought to unseal the filing in early July. Silverman argued in his motion that the First Amendment and common law require public access to corporate disclosure statements, and that there is a strong public interest in understanding the financial interests that shape free expression on one of the world’s most used social media platforms.

Judge Illston agreed. In Tuesday’s order, the judge wrote that X has “presented little more than conjecture in support of their position” that the list of investors should be kept hidden from the public.

“The disclosure statement does not contain any scandalous information or trade secrets,” Judge Illston’s order states. “On the record before it, the Court is unable to discern a factual basis for sealing the disclosure.”

Shortly after the court issued its order, the disclosure statement was made available on the court’s public docket.

Read Silverman’s coverage of the newly released list of X’s investors.

The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our monthly newsletter and following us on Twitter or Instagram.