Saudi Prince AlWaleed Bin Talal to keep shares in Musk's Twitter
An estimated $1.89 billion is expected to roll over to now-owner of Twitter, Elon Musk.
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Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal (TechCrunch)
Following tech mogul Elon Musk's infamous Twitter takeover, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced on Saturday that he will maintain his partial share of the social media platform.
In a tweet released by Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company, it was confirmed that its Twitter stock, valued at $1.89 billion, will roll over to Twitter, now owned and led by Musk. This makes Bin Talal the second-largest investor, following Musk.
A $300 million joint investment in Twitter was made by the prince and Kingdom in 2011, and his stake was increased in 2015. He agreed in May to roll the stake worth $1.89 billion into Elon Musk's takeover deal rather than cash out.
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
While Bin Talal remains the company's chairman, his authority over the company was called into question by the US media, including the Wall Street Journal, after it was revealed that the Saudi royal - a cousin of the crown prince - had been held captive at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh for 83 days. Tensions slight rose when Talal criticized Musk’s intentions to buy Twitter by stating that the offer was not sufficient to which Musk responded by criticizing the restrictrions on free speech in Saudi Arabia.
Musk has promised to turn down content moderation to a minimum since he took control of Twitter..
