Saudi Arabia's stake in Twitter a talking point after Elon Musk's takeover; here's why

Saudi Arabians are ‘second-largest investors’ in Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Twitter deal, according to reports.  private office of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal said Monday that it will continue holding  shares valued at $1.89 billion in Twitter Inc purchased by Tesla CEO. Musk secured $44 billion deal on Friday last week, and purchase has since been under rar for massive Saudi funding. This has also raised concerns about future of social media firm. 

 SpaceX founder's purchase has been shrouded in mystery as reports emerged that it involves equity from or investors based in Saudi Arabia. Alwaleed, a Saudi prince and CEO of Kingdom Holding company, is among investors of $1.89 billion nearly 35 million shares. In a press release lately, Alwaleed announced that his company's shares in Twitter will "roll over" to new Twitter, one now owned by Musk. " deal is in line with long-term investment strategy for which Kingdom Holding Company is known for," release ded.

Critics deride 'free expression absolutist' Musk for Saudi influence on platform

Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding is reportedly 16.9% owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund which is chaired by crown prince and current prime minister Mohammed Bin Salman popularly known as MbS. He also holds shares in Uber Technologies, Citigroup Inc(C.N) and was among early investor in Apple Inc and several or American firms. Critics have derided Musk for imposing imagery of a "free expression absolutist" while doing business with those involved in human rights abuses. CIA in its report claimed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman h ordered assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Consulate, in Istanbul.

Earlier in July this year, United States President Joe Biden also reportedly raised 2018 killing of Khashoggi, during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said that n de facto leer of kingdom “basically said that he was not personally responsible for it.” He ded, “I indicated I thought he was.” American leer also underscored that he held “straightforward and direct” talks with MbS about human rights issues in his country. As  Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has funding from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, critics reminded that Twitter was compromised previously by Saudi spies who used internal data to crack down on  dissidents and jail m. y also questioned Musk's free speech narrative and  Saudi influence on  platform.