On Monday, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud and his Kingdom Holding Company announced a combined $300 million strategic investment in Twitter. The major and altogether unexpected infusion of cash from the middle eastern billionaire comes after a protracted negotiation period. Yet it remains to be clarified just how much control of Twitter the investment has netted Alwaleed.
Alwaleed, according to Forbes, is the 26th wealthiest person in the world and the richest in his country.
“Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” Prince Alwaleed said following today’s announcement.
Eng. Ahmed Halawani, KHC Executive Director of Private Equity and International Investments, share’s in the Saudi prince’s enthusiasm.
“We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years,” Halawani says. “Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend.”
Prince Alwaleed has a strong presence and influence in media through his investments in media and entertainment in the Arab world, and beyond like the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), in which Kingdom Holding retains a 29.9% stake.
In addition to the Twitter cash infusion, Prince alwaleed also recently announced his plans to launch his privately owned Alarab news channel.
With so many prominent Middle Eastern billionaires and captains of industry investing cash into American technologies and other resources, do you expect social media platforms like Twitter to represent the next major frontier for foreign capital to flow into?
