The Tech Herald

Saudi royal family pumps $300 million USD into Twitter

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 19 2011, 13:30

Image: Twitter.

Not content with buying fleets of exorbitantly priced sports cars, or purchasing English Premier League football clubs, it would appear the Saudi royal family has now developed a taste for social networking.

However, in this particular case, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal hasn’t opened a personal Twitter account, he’s pumped some $300 million USD into the hugely popular micro-blogging service through his aptly named company Kingdom Holding.

“We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years,” commented Kingdom Holding’s executive director of private equity and international investments in an official statement. “Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend.”

Described by the Riyadh-based company as “a strategic stake” in Twitter, the prince’s substantial monetary investment comes after “several months of negotiations” between both parties.

Looking beyond Twitter, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal clearly has a penchant for investing in the technology and media sector. Specifically, he has also acquired notable stakes in Apple Inc. and News Corp.

The stock value of Kingdom Holding Co. experienced up to an 8.3 percent boost following news of the cash injection.

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