X Unveils Shareholder List, Including Binance and a16z

The list of shareholders of social network X has just been announced, with the participation of many famous names in the crypto industry.

X (Twitter) has just released its shareholder list, revealing the role of several crypto companies in supporting Elon Musk's acquisition of this social network for $ 44 billion in 2022.

BREAKING: The full list of investors in Elon Musk's X Corp has been unsealed.

- Fidelity
- Sequioa
- Jack Dorsey
- Binance
- Saudi Prince Alwaleed
And others… pic.twitter.com/3Mvta6cZHz— Radar🚨 (@RadarHits) August 22, 2024
The shareholder list is to comply with a legal order that includes nearly 100 organizations. Among them are Binance Capital Management and several venture funds known for their AI and crypto investments, such as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), ARK Ventures, and 8VC.

a16z’s portfolio also includes exchange Coinbase and crypto bank Anchorage Digital, while ARK Invest has invested in stock and crypto trading platform Robinhood and AI developer Anthropic. AI companies PathAI and Cognition are part of 8VC’s portfolio. The document also names nearly 30 entities linked to Fidelity, which has a digital assets arm.

Binance has previously been known to be an investor in X, but most of the other shareholders have not been disclosed until now.

A federal judge forced X to disclose its shareholder list after the nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a motion to unseal the shareholder list in connection with a lawsuit in 2023.

Musk acquired X for $44 billion in October 2022, marking one of the largest tech acquisitions in history. To become the boss of X, the billionaire pledged $46.5 billion in equity and debt financing. Banks such as Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. provided Musk with up to $13 billion in margin loans, according to Reuters.

However, the deal did not go as expected. According to the Wall Street Journal, it was the worst financial deal for banks since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Part of the reason is the $13 billion “debt pile” that banks find difficult to liquidate without incurring losses.

Since 2022, X has also been in financial trouble as a series of large companies have cut advertising on the platform because they are not satisfied with Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has been repeatedly criticized for statements that some people consider anti-Semitic, racist and contrary to core American values.

The New York Times reported that before Musk took over, nearly 90% of X’s revenue came from advertising. Earlier this month, Musk also filed a lawsuit related to the alleged advertising boycott of X.