Saudi prince buys into Twitter
December 19th, 2011 - 8:29 pm ICT by IANS
London, Dec 19 (IANS) Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in the microblogging company Twitter, becoming its latest major investor.
Alwaleed, the nephew of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, is one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $19.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine’s estimation.
He already owns a seven percent stake in News Corporation, a “sizeable share” of Citigroup, and is understood to be starting his own cable news channel, The Telegraph reported Monday.
The prince bought the Twitter stake after “months of negotiations” through his Kingdom Holding Company, it said.
“Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Twitter had no further comment to make beyond the details of the investment. The San Francisco microblogging company is now valued $8.4 billion, despite having yet to turn a sizable profit.
It has over 100 million registered users, who post approximately one billion tweets a week. One of its other major investors is Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire who owns Digital Sky Technologies and also has major stakes in Facebook and Zynga, Telegraph said.
- Facebook files for $5 bn IPO - Feb 02, 2012
- Billionaire Saudi prince wows Nepal - Nov 15, 2010
- Saudi prince to Pandit: Restore Citi's stature - Jan 19, 2010
- Facebook six founders, investers in Forbes billionaire list - Mar 10, 2011
- Saudi prince tells Vikram Pandit: Deliver in 2010 - Jan 16, 2010
- Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal among 'World's Most Powerful Billionaires' - Jan 28, 2010
- Tatas in exploratory talks with Saudi conglomerate (With Images) - Oct 14, 2009
- Mexican billionaire Slim invests in Colombian oil industry - Feb 24, 2011
- BlackBerry co-founders knocked off billionaires' list - Jun 24, 2011
- Investing In Facebook May Not Be A Possibility - Jan 04, 2011
- Russian billionaire buys Monaco football club - Dec 24, 2011
- Facebook is now a $33 billion entity - Aug 26, 2010
- LVMH to acquire Bulgari for 3.7 bln euros - Mar 08, 2011
- Only Millionaires And Billionaires Can Invest In Facebook And Not Ordinary Folks - Jan 04, 2011
- Investors were duped by Citigroup's risky investments: Report - Dec 13, 2011
Tags: alwaleed bin talal, billionaire, citigroup, digital sky, facebook, forbes magazine, global impact, growth businesses, king abdullah, kingdom holding company, milner, net worth, news corporation, one billion, prince alwaleed bin talal, saudi arabian, saudi prince, suitable opportunities, twitter, wealthiest people in the world