All the Banks, Billionaires and VCs Sucked Into Twitter v. Musk
Here are the people and firms each side has subpoenaed so far.
August 30, 2022 at 10:53 AM
7 minute read
Ken Griffin's on the list. So are Jack Dorsey, Larry Ellison and Marc Andreessen. Not to mention Morgan Stanley and Sequoia Capital.
Twitter Inc. is subpoenaing a veritable Who's Who of Wall Street and Silicon Valley as part of its legal battle to force Elon Musk to complete his proposed $44 billion acquisition. The social media company is on the hunt for any evidence that Musk's claim he pulled the plug on the deal over spam and bot accounts on the platform is just pretext. Investors, bankers, friends and anyone else Musk might have spoken to about the deal are fair game.
Musk has sent out his own demands for information, seeking evidence that Twitter failed to provide him with accurate data on the accounts. Among the recipients is Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder and a booster of his buyout bid, who was the first person at the company Musk called after he became the largest shareholder in late March.
Both sides are seeking information from Peiter Zatko, ex-Twitter head of security turned whistle-blower. A handful of subpoenas don't reveal the recipient.
Here are the people and firms each side has subpoenaed so far:
Twitter's Subpoenas
Individuals
- Andreessen, Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose firm was an equity backer of Musk's bid
- Ellison, Oracle Corp. chairman whose trust committed $1 billion to Musk's bid; his investment firm, Lawrence Investments, was also subpoenaed
- Antonio Gracias, venture capitalist, former SpaceX and Tesla board member, and Musk pal who Twitter said in its lawsuit was meant to have taken over the financing effort from Bob Swan but "never appeared"
- Griffin, Citadel CEO whom Twitter describes as an "actual or potential" co-investor in the equity financing for the deal
- Steve Jurvetson, venture capitalist, SpaceX and former Tesla board member, whose DFJ Growth IV Partners committed equity financing
- Joe Lonsdale, Palantir Technologies Inc. co-founder whose investment firm Eight Partners VC LLC is not known to have been a part of deal; Lonsdale has tweeted that he had "nothing to do" with the legal battle and called the subpoenas "a giant harassing fishing expedition"
- Patrick O'Malley III, former chief financial officer of Avaya Holdings Corp., whom Twitter describes as an adviser to Musk
- Robin Ren, former Tesla executive whose Robin Ren Family Foundation was an "actual or potential" co-investor
- David O. Sacks, venture capitalist, former PayPal COO and longtime Musk associate who has tweeted critically of Twitter. He said on his podcast that he has no involvement in the transaction and has moved to quash the subpoena; his website was also subpoenaed
- Kristina Salen, former CFO for World Wrestling Entertainment and Etsy who Twitter says advised Musk on the deal
- Philip B. Simon, trustee for Ellison
- Bob Swan, former Intel Corp. CEO and Andreessen partner who advised Musk on the deal but was sidelined because they "weren't on the same wavelength," according to the lawsuit
- Zatko, former Twitter head of security turned whistle-blower
Firms Committed to Providing or Potentially Providing Equity Finance
- Aliya Capital Partners, a Miami-based multi-family office and previous Tesla and SpaceX investor that committed $360 million
- AH Capital Management LLC, Andreessen's investment firm that committed $400 million and also advised on the deal, per the subpoenas
- A.M. Management and Consulting LLC, a VC firm that committed $25 million
- BAM Trading Services Inc., a unit of crypto exchange Binance that committed $500 million to Musk's bid
- BAMCO Inc., a unit of Baron Capital Management Inc., that committed $100 million
- Bandera Partners LLC, a hedge fund that owns Twitter shares and was identified as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- BDFJ Growth IV, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
- Benefit Street Partners LLC, a credit-focused money manager named as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Brookfield Asset Management LLC, an investment management firm that committed $250 million
- Cartenna Capital LP, a Connecticut hedge fund that committed $9 million
- DFJ Growth IV Partners, Jurvetson's VC fund that committed $100 million
- Digital Rush 15 LLC, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
- Eden Global Partners GP, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
- Factorial Funds LLC, a VC and asset management firm described as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Fidelity Management & Research Co., an investment firm that committed $316.1 million
- The Founders Fund Growth II Management, a VC fund owned by PayPal co-founder and longtime friend to Musk Peter Thiel; the subpoena identifies the firm as "actual or potential co-investor" in the deal
- Honeycomb Asset Management LP, a hedge fund that committed $5 million
- J. Safra Asset Management Corp., an investment adviser that is part of the Safra Group of companies controlled by the Safra family; it's identified as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Key Wealth Advisors, an investment management firm that committed $30 million
- Linda Ye and Robin Ren Family Foundation, charity organization founded by former Tesla executive Ren and an "actual or potential" co-investor
- LITANI Ventures LLC, family office of RXBar founder Peter Rahal, which committed $25 million
- Manhattan Venture Partners LLC, a venture capital firm identified as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Mirae Asset USA LLC, US unit of a Korean financial services group and an "actual or potential" co-investor
- SC CDA1 LLC, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
- Section 32 LLC, a VC firm run by former Google Ventures CEO Bill Maris and identified as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Sequoia Capital Fund LP, a VC firm that pledged $800 million to back Musk's bid
- Tomales Bay Capital, an investment firm involved in a failed deal to buy a piece of Musk's space flight company SpaceX; it was described in the subpoena as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Tresser Blvd 402 LLC, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
- Tru Arrow Technology Partners I, a private equity firm described as an "actual or potential" co-investor
- Vy Capital Holdings LP, Alexander Tamas's Dubai-based investment firm that committed $700 million
- Witkoff Capital LLC, developer Steven Witkoff's family office that committed $100 million
- WKB Capital LLC, a "potential" co-investor in the deal
Data Firms
- Concentrix Solutions Corporation, a data analytics firm
- Cyabra Strategy Inc., a research firm that has estimated the percentage of inauthentic Twitter profiles at 13.7%
- FGS Global Inc.
- Innodata Inc., a data analytics firm
- TaskUs USA, a content moderation company
- ToSomeone Inc., which does business as CounterAction
Musk's Companies
- Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
- Tesla Inc.
Musk's Advisers
- Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
- McDermott Will & Emery LLP
- Morgan Stanley
- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
- Valor Equity Partners, Gracias's firm
Banks Offering Debt Financing or Margin Loans
- Bank of America Corp.
- BNP Paribas SA
- Barclays PLC
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Citigroup
- Credit Suisse Group AG
- Deutsche Bank AG
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
- Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
- Morgan Stanley
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Societe Generale SA
Musk's Subpoenas
Individuals
- Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter's former head of consumer product, whose team was key in expanding the user base
- Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and former CEO
- Bruce Falck, Twitter's former head of revenue product
- Zatko, former head of security and whistle-blower
Data, Ad Tech and Other Firms
- Discord Inc., a chat service
- DoubleVerify Inc.
- 1stdibs.com, an e-commerce company whose CEO sits on Twitter's board
- Holocene Advisors LP
- Innodata Inc., a data analytics firm
- Integral Ad Science Inc.
- Mastercard Inc.
- Salesforce Inc.
Financial and Other Advisers
- Allen & Co.
- BofA Securities Inc.
- Contour Asset Management LLC, subpoenaed partly for any analysis it performed on Twitter's user base as it affected a price target for the stock
- D.E. Shaw & Co., subpoenaed partly for the same reason
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Wells Fargo Securities LLC
Legal Advisers
- Ballard Spahr LLP
- Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Unknown Subjects
- Seven subpeonas have been filed under seal
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