Do as I say, not as I do. This phrase encapsulates the inconsistencies that have become a hallmark of Elon Musk as he contends with the needs of the disparate stakeholders in his vast business empire. While the world’s richest person is all too willing to out the companies that have been using their ad dollars as leverage over Twitter’s content moderation policies, he appears decidedly recalcitrant when it comes to the identity of the investors who’ve bet on his vision of a super app.
Ahead of the NewFronts digital advertising conference a few weeks back, over two dozen civil society groups called on advertisers to seek specific commitments from Twitter vis-à-vis its content moderation policies and to withdraw their ad dollars should the social media giant refuse to comply.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022
In response, Elon Musk had called for an open investigation into the funding sources of the civil society organizations that were spearheading this supposedly anti-Twitter campaign, terming the proverbial sunlight as the “best disinfectant.”
Unsurprisingly, as is often the case when Elon Musk’s core interests come under pressure, this zeal for openness on the part of the world’s richest person did not extend to those who’ve invested in his vision of a super app of the future.
As a refresher, on the 15th of March, Elon Musk filed for Twitter’s merger with X Corporation. Do note that X Corp. itself has a parent company bearing the name X Holdings Corporation and registered only in March 2023 with an authorized capital of $2 million. Musk remains the president of X Corp. and X Holdings Corp. According to the CEO of Tesla, these shell companies are meant to pave the way for an “everything app” on the pattern of Tencent Holdings’ WeChat super app.
https://twitter.com/chancery_daily/status/1667391304295120897
This brings us to the crux of the matter. The Twitter account @chancery_daily has published a detailed thread on Elon Musk’s attempts to obfuscate the identity of the X Holdings Corp. investors.
To wit, on the 06th of June, Plaintiff Sarah Anoke filed an administrative motion in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California, seeking the disclosure of the identity of the persons who invested in Elon Musk’s X Holdings Corp.
https://twitter.com/chancery_daily/status/1667404768438886400
The court ordered Twitter to file a supplemental disclosure form to disclose the identities of X Holdings Corporation shareholders. However, in response, Twitter filed another motion, seeking authorization to file the supplemental disclosure under seal. As per the redacted portion of Twitter’s filings, there are supposedly 95 entities/investors in X Holdings Corporation. A response to this motion is expected by Tuesday, with Judge Illston expected to deliver a formal ruling shortly thereafter.
NEWS: Twitter’s total ad revenue was down about 40% in the 2nd quarter compared with a year earlier, as of the end of May.
This is less than the US decline of 60% reported earlier this week, since non-US Twitter advertisers haven't reduced spending nearly as much.
Source: WSJ pic.twitter.com/zBviqIOCdf
— X Daily News (@xDaily) June 10, 2023
Meanwhile, things are not proceeding smoothly at Twitter. Consider the fact that the platform’s ad revenue in the second quarter of 2023 is down around 40 percent relative to the comparable quarter of last year. In recent months, Twitter has aggressively cut its costs, slashing headcount by 85 percent relative to the pre-Musk levels as well as reducing non-staff costs such as rent and cloud servers by around $1 billion.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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