The capture of US media orgs is accelerating. And the UK is next in line. The BBC has fallen to an AI hype guy. And my old newspaper, the Observer, is publishing Palantir puff pieces. But why? I have no idea. But in Companies House I found the Obs has a mystery investor: the North Hatley Trust. 2/

Who is the North Hatley Trust? Good question! It’s a completely anonymous financial vehicle. And there’s just one clue from public info. Its legal address & HQ is Suite 5700, 415 Mission Street, San Francisco. Which also happens to be the HQ of private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman 3/

I already knew Hellman & Friedman because of this guy. Patrick Healy, its CEO, is another investor in Tortoise Media/the Obs. It was a name that had alarmed us at the time. Because Hellman & Friedman invest money for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. 4/

And just so we’re clear about what that is & who’s behind it. It’s this guy: crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Aka Mr Bonesaw to you. The man the CIA concluded ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 5/

When James Harding presented his vision for the Obs in the Guardian office, I asked him whether Patrick Healy was a fit & proper person to own our newspaper given his firm’s investment from a renowned journalist killer. He assured us Healy had invested in a personal capacity only. 6/

The chair of the Scott Trust - which owns the Guardian - Ole Jacob Sunde told press freedom groups the same thing. But why is an anonymous vehicle based at Hellman & Friedman’s offices being used to invest in the Obs? Who’s behind it? And - crucially why won’t the Obs or Guardian say? 7/

Patrick Healy, Hellman & Friedman, the Observer & Ole Jacob Sunde did not respond to my press inquiries. The Guardian did respond but only to say it did not wish to comment. Why the secrecy? What’s there to hide? What is the North Hatley Trust? And who owns our oldest Sunday newspaper? 8/

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I don’t know who’s behind the North Hatley Trust. Does the Guardian? It should. It’s a co investor. So why on earth would a liberal news org that champions accountability refuse to answer basic journalistic inquiries? It’s rupture of another important norm. 9/

There may be a perfectly innocent explanation why the Observer is refusing to disclose the real identity of an opaque investor who happens to share an address with a private equity firm that’s taken a ton of cash from Mr Bonesaw… That’s why we send right to reply letters: to get the facts 10/