Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment company, Kingdom Holding Co. said Monday that they are investing a combined $300 million into Twitter. The deal, which was first reported by Bloomberg news, was officially announced in a press statement released by Kingdom Holding Sunday night.
Alwaleed Bin Talal
The Twitter purchase represents Prince Alwaleed’s drive “to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” an emailed statement from Kingdom Holding quoted the Saudi prince as saying. The $300 million investment represents a more than 3% stake in Twitter, which is valued at $8 billion.
With an estimated net worth of $19.6 billion, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is the 26th richest person in the world according to Forbes magazine. The billionaire prince also holds seven percent of News Corp.’s class B shares, making him the second largest investor in News Corporation. He has also been an owner of Apple stock since 1997, when he bought a five percent stake in that company for $115 million. Kingdom Holding Co. is a major shareholder of Citigroup Inc. as well.
This latest round of funding brings Twitter’s total funding levels to nearly $1.5 billion.
