Saudi Arabia's stake in Twitter a talking point after Elon Musk's takeover; here's why

Saudi Arabians are the ‘second-largest investors’ in Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Twitter deal, according to reports. The private office of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal said Monday that it will continue holding the shares valued at $1.89 billion in Twitter Inc purchased by Tesla CEO. Musk secured the $44 billion deal on Friday last week, and the purchase has since been under the radar for massive Saudi funding. This has also raised concerns about the future of the social media firm. 

The SpaceX founder's purchase has been shrouded in mystery as reports emerged that it involves equity from other investors based in Saudi Arabia. Alwaleed, a Saudi prince and CEO of the Kingdom Holding company, is among the investors of $1.89 billion nearly 35 million shares. In a press release lately, Alwaleed announced that his company's shares in Twitter will "roll over" to the new Twitter, one now owned by Musk. "The deal is in line with the long-term investment strategy for which Kingdom Holding Company is known for," the release added.

Critics deride 'free expression absolutist' Musk for Saudi influence on platform

Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding is reportedly 16.9% owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund which is chaired by the crown prince and the current prime minister Mohammed Bin Salman popularly known as MbS. He also holds shares in Uber Technologies, Citigroup Inc(C.N) and was among the early investor in Apple Inc and several other American firms. Critics have derided Musk for imposing the imagery of a "free expression absolutist" while doing business with those involved in human rights abuses. CIA in its report claimed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate, in Istanbul.

Earlier in July this year, United States President Joe Biden also reportedly raised the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said that the then de facto leader of the kingdom “basically said that he was not personally responsible for it.” He added, “I indicated I thought he was.” The American leader also underscored that he held “straightforward and direct” talks with MbS about human rights issues in his country. As  Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has funding from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, critics reminded that Twitter was compromised previously by Saudi spies who used internal data to crack down on the dissidents and jail them. They also questioned Musk's free speech narrative and the Saudi influence on the platform.