The Saudi prince who invested $300 million in Twitter in December said the move was not politically motivated.
“It was a pure financial investment with economic objectives,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, told CNN. “Politics has no ingredients whatsoever in that investment … the secure economic financial investment with expected huge returns to our company Kingdom Holding.”
Alwaleed, who also has a stake in Apple, said he expects the computer maker to thrive despite last year’s death of Steve Jobs.
“Politics has no ingredients whatsoever in that investment … the secure economic financial investment with expected huge returns to our company.”
“I believe that Steve Jobs’ genius is by establishing a company that could outlive him and continue with his path,” he said.
Initially, some analysts suggested Alwaleed was interested in obtaining a stake in Twitter because of the role it played in the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and northern Africa. Alwaleed also holds an interest in News Corp., prompting speculation he may have played a role in Rupert Murdoch’s decision to start using Twitter late last year.
At the time of his acquisition, Alwaleed’s investment in Twitter amounted to a 3% stake, based on a $800 million valuation of the company last August. While Alwaleed prides himself on being an early investor in Apple, Amazon and eBay, he said he did not see himself as an early investor in Twitter.
“We don’t believe we came in at the early stage, but clearly we don’t believe we came in at the plateau stage,” he said. “We see that this company’s viability and its continuity and its resilience will be there in the decades to come.”
