. Earth Science News .
TRADE WARS
Khashoggi crisis shines light on Saudi ties to Silicon Valley
By Julie CHARPENTRAT
San Francisco (AFP) Oct 19, 2018

The crisis surrounding the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and concerns that he may have been killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, has highlighted the role of the Middle East kingdom in the US economy, especially in Silicon Valley.

Saudi money has been a key source of capital for startups and other technology firms in recent years, led by the huge Saudi sovereign wealth arm known as the Public Investment Fund, but also from individual members of the Saudi royal family and the Kingdom Holding Company, the investment arm of Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, according to the research firm CB Insights.

The most prominent of the investments was a $45 billion contribution in 2016 to the SoftBank Vision Fund launched by the Japanese conglomerate focusing on tech and startups, followed by a pledge of another $45 billion this year.

That gives the Saudis at least an indirect role in some of the hottest companies in the tech sector, including Uber, Slack, WeWork and Nvidia.

But the Saudi funds and royal family members also have made direct investments in Silicon Valley, including the $3.5 billion infusion in Uber from the sovereign PIF fund, a deal which helped put the fund's managing director Yasir Al Rumayyan on the Uber board of directors.

Despite the big Saudi investment in Uber, its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced he would skip the high-profile investment conference in Saudi Arabia next week, joining a number of US and European business and political leaders who are staying away as a result of the Khashoggi controversy.

PIF has invested $461 million in the mixed reality startup Magic Leap, which has also raised capital from Google, China's Alibaba and others.

The PIF was also in focus recently when Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said in a tweet that he had secured funding -- which turned out to be untrue -- from the fund to take the electric automaker private.

The PIF later announced it was investing more than $1 billion in Tesla rival Lucid Motors, which is aiming to deliver its first vehicles in 2019.

- Focusing on transport -

The transport sector is a key focus for the Saudis: the Vision Fund has taken a stake in GM-backed autonomous car unit Cruise, and Kingdom Holding has shares of Uber rival Lyft.

Prince Al-Waleed meanwhile has investments in Twitter and Apple, and a 2.3 percent stake in Snapchat parent firm Snap.

Saudi Arabia is also seen as a key market for US tech giants as the kingdom embarks on its "Vision 2030" plan to reduce dependence on oil and create a more diversified, tech-focused economy.

Microsoft earlier this year launched its cloud computing platform Azure Stack in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Saudi-based Sahara Net and China's Lenovo, estimating the value of the market to be worth some $29 billion.

The importance of Saudi money was seen in a visit this year by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seen as the effective power in the kingdom to Silicon Valley, where he met top executives from Google and Apple.

In his US visit, Prince Mohammed also went to Seattle where he met Microsoft founder Bill Gates and its CEO Satya Nadella, as well as Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

For Bezos, the relationship with Saudi Arabia is complicated. His company operates the Souq ecommerce platform in the kingdom, but he personally owns the Washington Post newspaper, for which Khashoggi was a contributor and which has made repeated calls for information about the missing writer.


Related Links
Global Trade News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


TRADE WARS
Trump plans US exit from international postal treaty
Washington (AFP) Oct 17, 2018
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it plans to withdraw from an international treaty on postal rates in another moved aimed at pressuring China amid broader trade and political disputes. The United States intends to exit the system of setting postal rates for smaller packages under the Universal Postal Union "as soon as practical" and no later than Jan. 1, 2020, said a statement released by the White House press secretary. The United States will also file notice formally withdrawi ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

TRADE WARS
In hurricane-hit Mexico Beach, a marathon clean-up begins

Boulders litter Uganda villages crushed by deadly landslide

World Bank offers disaster-hit Indonesia $1 bn in loans

Moroccan navy rescues 38 migrants at sea

TRADE WARS
Virtual reality can boost empathy

Blue phosphorus mapped and measured for the first time

High entropy alloys hold the key to studying dislocation avalanches in metals

ELTA nabs $55M contract for combat aircraft radars for Asian customer

TRADE WARS
DR Congo signs $14 bn dam development deal with China, Spain

Easter Island inhabitants collected freshwater from the ocean's edge in order to survive

Atlantic salmon use magnetic fields to navigate, even when landlocked

Turbidity currents are not just currents, but involve movement of the seafloor itself

TRADE WARS
'Year of extremes' for shrinking Swiss glaciers in 2018: study

Arctic sea ice decline driving ocean phytoplankton farther north

Climate models fail to simulate recent air-pressure changes over Greenland

Scientists find missing piece in glacier melt predictions

TRADE WARS
Diversity is key to sustainability for local chicken farming in Africa

The science of sustainability

World must slash meat consumption to save climate: study

Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 within planetary limits may be achievable

TRADE WARS
Japan company admits falsifying data for quake shock absorbers

Evacuations ordered amid deadly flooding in central Texas

Floods in Niger claim 45 lives since June: UN

Terror-hit French town suffers second trauma in floods

TRADE WARS
Ethiopian PM hands half of cabinet to women, including defence job

Dozens dead in Niger/Nigeria crackdown on criminal gangs

Gambia launches truth commission into ex-dictator's abuse

Anti-terror force in Sahel begins officer training

TRADE WARS
City of Koh Ker was occupied for centuries longer than previously thought

Humans may have colonized Madagascar later than previously thought

Wild chimpanzees share food with their friends

Affable apes live longer, study shows









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.