Bloomberg is reporting today that the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has bought a 5% stake in Nintendo. Nintendo hasn’t officially acknowledged the purchase by the PIF as it may not be something that the Kyoto-based company is bursting at the seams to announce. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund was set up by Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is a controversial figure and was blamed by the C.I.A and others for the assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund has so far purchased stakes in EA, Capcom, Activision-Blizzard and more.
“Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry, and this series of investments in Japanese game companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan.”
Thanks to MohammedKB for the news tip!
