Democratic US senator wants probe into Saudi firm's stake in Twitter
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Democratic US Senator wants to review Saudi stakes in Twitter after Elon Musk's acquisition into the company.
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US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) (Reuters)
Following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter Inc., Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy stated on Monday that he wants a US national security review of a Saudi Arabian conglomerate's stake in the social media company.
Murphy stated that he was requesting that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which evaluates foreign purchases of American companies, "conduct an investigation into the national security implications of Saudi Arabia's purchase of Twitter."
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The majority of foreign investors looking to acquire even noncontrolling stakes in American businesses must obtain CFIUS approval, a strong committee run by the Treasury that examines transactions for potential national security risks and has the authority to halt them.
According to a tweet from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Kingdom Holding Company of Saudi Arabia and the prince's private office announced on Friday that they would keep holding shares of Twitter worth $1.89 billion. "The deal is in line with the long-term investment strategy which Kingdom Holding Company is known for," the statement said.
Dear friend "Chief Twit" @elonmusk
— الوليد بن طلال (@Alwaleed_Talal) October 28, 2022
Together all the way 🤝🏻 @Twitter https://t.co/J9rnd013xz pic.twitter.com/bXo6RUaUwk
The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, owns 16.9% of Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding.
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"We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting US politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform," Murphy wrote on Twitter. "There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review."
The Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to respond right away. A request for comment from Twitter did not immediately receive a response. The US Treasury, which oversees CFIUS, declined to comment through a spokesman.
The $44 billion deal to take Twitter private that Musk announced in April was finalized last week. A total of thirteen billion dollars in debt financing have been committed by banks, including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N).
