X's initial shareholder list unveiled: Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Jack Dorsey, Bill Ackman tied to platform

Elon Musk officially rebranded Twitter into X in 2023, and now over a year later, a federal court order has led to the unveiling of the shareholders who assisted in the massive $44 billion purchase − including names like music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and the social media platform's founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston granted the order proposed by Jacob Silverman, an independent technology journalist, in July 2024, court records show. Silverman proposed the order for the sake of "transparency" and the general interests of the public.

"I believe that people have a right to know who owns a company with such a prominent role in shaping public discourse, both in the United States and around the world," Silverman wrote in a blog post on his website. "X’s self-proclaimed role as a guarantor of free speech means that we should know which outside entities − and which foreign governments − may be able to exert influence on the company."

Silverman is being represented pro bono by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP).

"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," Katie Townsend, deputy executive director and legal director at the RCFP, told USA TODAY in a statement. "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."

USA TODAY contacted X's attorneys on Thursday but did not receive an immediate response.

Who helped Elon Musk buy X?

In addition to Combs and Dorsey, the other nearly 100 X Holdings Corp. shareholders listed include: venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud; UnipolSai S.P.A., an Italian financial services company based in Bologna; and 8VC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of software company Palantir, according to an unsealed court document obtained by the Washington Post.

Many initial investors, including Dorsey and Andreessen Horowitz, have been publicly revealed before but this is the first time a list has compiled everyone who invested in X, the Post reported.

The Pershing Square Foundation, another entity revealed on the list reported by the Post, lists hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and his wife Neri Oxman as co-trustees.

Fidelity, which has several entities named on the shareholder list, said in January that one of its mutual funds that valued its stake in X at nearly $20 million in 2022 had dropped to $5.6 million.

During the first six months of 2023, which is the first full year in which Musk owned the company, X's revenue ($1.48 billion) fell nearly 40% from the same period the year prior, according to Bloomberg, citing court documents. The company in total lost $456 million in the first quarter of 2023, the outlet reported via court documents.

The company generated a little over $600 million in advertising revenue in each of the first three quarters of 2023, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

It is unclear who still has shares in X as of August 2024. X Holdings Corp., formerly known as Twitter, went private after Musk acquired it.

Jacob Silverman intervened in 2023 lawsuit

Silverman "intervened" in a 2023 lawsuit filed by former Twitter employees who sued Musk and X after alleging the Tesla and SpaceX founder violated their arbitration agreements by not paying them certain fees after he bought the company, according to federal court documents filed in the Northern District of California.

Musk filed a sealed version of the list of initial X shareholders amid the lawsuit, which was remanded to state court in June 2023, court records show.

Silverman's attorneys, including Townsend, argued he could intervene "for the limited purpose of asserting his common law and First Amendment rights of access to judicial records."

Full list of X investors

Here's the full list of people and entities named as shareholders of X Holdings Corp. in the court document filed June 9, 2023:

• 8VC Opportunities Fund II, L.P.
• ADREM X LLC
• ADREM Y LLC
• Afshar Partners, LP
• Andrea Stroppa
• Andreessen Horowitz LSV Fund III, L.P.
• Anthem Ventures, LLC
• ARK Venture Private Holdings LLC
• BAMCO, Inc.
• Bandera Fund LLC
• Baron Opportunity Fund
• Baron Partners Fund
• Binance Capital Management Co., Ltd
• Brookfield Project X L.P.
• CCM 2020 Investments LLC
• Cheng and Chen Family Trust
• CNK Fund IV, L.P. 
• Danilo Kawasaki
• Dayton Family Enterprises, LLC
• Dayton Family Investments, LLC
• DFJ GROWTH IV, L.P.
• DFJ GROWTH IV PARALLEL FUND, LLC
• DFJ GROWTH X-I, L.P.
• Eden Relationship Capital L.P.
• Elon Musk as Trustee of the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003
• FIAM Target Date Blue Chip Growth Commingled Pool By: Fidelity Institutional Asset Management Trust Company as Trustee
• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Commingled Pool By: Fidelity Management Trust Company, as Trustee
• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Institutional Trust By its manager Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
• Fidelity Canadian Growth Company Fund by its manager Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
• Fidelity Central Investment Portfolios LLC: Fidelity U.S. Equity Central Fund -Communication Services Sub
• Fidelity Contrafund: Fidelity Advisor New Insights Fund - Sub A
• Fidelity Contrafund: Fidelity Advisor New Insights Fund - Sub B
• Fidelity Contrafund: Fidelity Contrafund
• Fidelity Contrafund: Fidelity Contrafund K6
• Fidelity Contrafund: Fidelity Series Opportunistic Insights Fund
• Fidelity Contrafund Commingled Pool By: Fidelity Management Trust Company, as Trustee
• Fidelity Destiny Portfolios: Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund
• Fidelity Global Growth and Value Investment Trust - Sub A By its manager Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
• Fidelity Global Innovators Investment Trust by its manager Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
• Fidelity Growth Company Commingled Pool By: Fidelity Management Trust Company, as Trustee
• Fidelity Insights Investment Trust By its manager Fidelity Investments Canada ULC
• Fidelity Mt. Vernon Street Trust: Fidelity Growth Company Fund
• Fidelity Mt. Vernon Street Trust : Fidelity Growth Company K6 Fund
• Fidelity Mt. Vernon Street Trust: Fidelity Series Growth Company Fund
• Fidelity OTC Commingled Pool By: Fidelity Management Trust Company, as Trustee
• Fidelity Puritan Trust: Fidelity Puritan Fund - Equity Sub B
• Fidelity Puritan Trust: Puritan K6 Fund - Equity Subportfolio
• Fidelity Securities Fund: Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund
• Fidelity Securities Fund: Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K6 Fund
• Fidelity Securities Fund: Fidelity OTC K6 Portfolio
• Fidelity Securities Fund: Fidelity OTC Portfolio
• Fidelity Select Portfolios : Select Communication Services Portfolio
• G64 Ventures LLC
• Gerber Kawasaki Inc.
• GFNCI LLC
• Gigafund 0.21, LP
• Glacier Ventures LLC
• Go Mav, LLC
• HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
• HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
• IMG US, LLC
• Jack Dorsey Remainder LLC
• Jack Dorsey Tr Ua 12/08/2010 Jack Dorsey Revocable Trust
• Kingdom Holding Company
• Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust
• Linda Ye and Robin Ren Family Foundation
• Litani Ventures
• Luchi Fiduciaria SR POS. 365
• Manhattan Venture Partners X LLC
• Mirae Asset Innovation X ONE, LLC
• Mirae Asset Project X Fund I, LP
• Olivier Janssens
• Q Tetris Holding LLC
• Ross Gerber
• Santo Lira LLC
• SC CDA1 LLC
• SCGE Fund, L.P.
• SCGGF III – U.S./India Management, L.P.
• SCHF (M) PV, L.P.
• Scott Nolan
• SC US/E Expansion Fund I Management, L.P.
• Sean Combs Capital, LLC
• Sequent (Schweiz) AG as Trustee of the Debala Trust
• Sequioa Capital Fund, L.P.
• Series N Dis, a series of Atreides Special Circumstances Fund, LLC
• Shahidi Tactic Group, LLC
• Steve Davis
• T. One Holdings LLC
• The Pershing Square Foundation
• TM33 Partner Holdings LLC
• Tresser Blvd 402 LLC
• UnipolSai S.P.A.
• Variable Insurance Products Fund II: VIP Contrafund Portfolio - Subportfolio A
• VYC25 Limited
• X Holdings I Investment, LLC