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The debt Elon Musk took on from the big banks to acquire Twitter has turned out to be their worst deal since the financial crisis of 2007-2008. When one of the richest and most powerful people in the world comes calling though, it’s hard to say no if you want more of their business — and their companies’ business — in the future. But it’s not just those banks that put money into the Twitter deal. There are a bunch of other investors who rolled over their stake from the original Twitter into Musk’s new version of X, and some others who bought in to get influence over whatever that new version was going to be. We’ve known some of them for a long time: the Saudis, Larry Ellison, and Jack Dorsey, for example. But now a full list of those investors has been released to the public thanks to journalist Jacob Silverman and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, who intervened in an ongoing lawsuit against Twitter/X to get the full list of investors unsealed. Luckily, the judge agreed it was in the public interest. Instead of opining on it myself, I’m going to refer you to Silverman’s post and what he made of the list of investors, which includes more Gulf sovereign wealth funds but also Sean Combs — of all people.
In the roundup this week, find great articles about the environmental risks of new semiconductor facilities and a deep dive on Curtis Yarvin, the man inspiring some of tech’s far-right views. Plus, the usual labor updates and other news you might have missed. Over on Tech Won’t Save Us, I spoke to Molly White about why the crypto industry is spending so much on the US election cycle and what it’s hoping to get for all its money. Have a great week! — Paris
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