Monday 19 December 2011

Saudi prince buys $300 mn stake in Twitter

RIYADH: Saudi billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company announced a combined investment of $300 million in the social networking site Twitter, in a statement Monday.

"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," Prince Walid said in the statement released on Kingdom Holding's website.

The statement said that the investment was finalised after "several months of negotiations" and represented a "strategic stake" in the social networking site.

Prince Walid, a media mogul and one of the world's richest men, in September announced plans to launch Alarab, a pan-Arab news channel, by 2012, saying the television network will promote freedom of speech.

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook played a crucial role in spreading information and organising protests in the revolutions that have rocked the Arab world since January.

No comments:

Post a Comment