By Sudarshana Banerjee
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, and Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), have made a combined investment of $300 Million in Twitter. This investment was the “result of several months of negotiations and comprehensive due diligence and represent a strategic stake in Twitter,” said a statement from KHC.
Arabic had the highest growth on Twitter, according to findings by data intelligence company Semiocast released last month. The volume of Arabic messages has multiplied by 22 in the last 12 months. Arabic is now the 8th most used language on Twitter, and Arabic messages represent 1.2 per cent of all public tweets (2.2M per day). With recent events, Twitter has grown exceptionally fast in the Middle East.
Prince Alwaleed: Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact.
Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of the country’s king, owns a 95 per cent stake in KHC. The 56-year old prince has a personal net worth of about $19.6 billion, and significant investments in media and entertainment, with stakes in the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) and News Corp. Prince Alwaleed recently announced his plans to launch his privately owned Alarab news channel.