One of the world's richest men, Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, is investing $300 million in Twitter, the popular, microblogging social media site based in San Francisco.
With an estimated net worth of $21 billion, Prince Walid is making the investment through Kingdom Holding Co., of which he owns 95 percent.
"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability to identify suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," the prince said, in a prepared statement.
People around the globe now use Twitter to send 250 million Tweets every day; the service has 100 million active users who access it from desktops, laptops, mobile devices and more.
"We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years," said Eng. Ahmed Halawani, KHC executive director of private equity and international investments. "Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend."
Prince Walid already is a major player in entertainment and media in the Arab world and beyond. Kingdom Holding has a 30 percent stake in the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which includes publications such as Arab News, Asharq Al Awsat, Arrajol magazine and and many more. The prince also recently announced plans to launch a privately owned Alarab news channel. His other American investments include Citigroup, Apple and General Motors.
Earlier this year, Twitter managed to raise $400 million from private investors. The investment firm that led the funding round valued Twitter at a staggering $8 billion, according to the New York Times.
