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Saudi prince invests $300 million in Twitter

82 points| pastr | 14 years ago |google.com | reply

45 comments

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[+] latchkey|14 years ago|reply
Very interesting, but it really makes me wonder.

If Twitter is making money, why dilute the shares with investment like this?

I'm sure one response is 'so they can grow the company', but that seems like a bit of a hard sell at this point.

How big does a company like Twitter really need to grow in order to be successful enough that they don't need to take $300 million investment deals? I mean, they are already the #1 provider of 140 character communication.

What is next?

[+] hristov|14 years ago|reply
I am not certain but it is possible that this was a secondary market purchase. The fact that it was announced by the Prince and not announced as a funding round by Twitter suggests a secondary market purchase.

In other words, the Saudi Prince may have bought the stake from an existing Twitter investor.

[+] Georgiy|14 years ago|reply
They just burning money, it'll collapse before 2015. Probably trying to bloat the cost of the company for the successful exit.
[+] badclient|14 years ago|reply
I'd be surprised if a lot of the $300M doesn't go towards existing shareholders cashing out.
[+] staunch|14 years ago|reply
They won't get higher prices for their stock that what people like this are willing to pay. They need a killer business model or a lot more scale to have revenues large enough to justify their valuation.

Taking this kind of money keeps them in business long enough to build real revenues (or fail).

[+] safeerm|14 years ago|reply
What I've heard people say is that if you can get money, get it. (on your terms of course)

There's not much that Twitter has done in improving their product (been 5 years)..which is something I don't really understand too much.

[+] maximusprime|14 years ago|reply
> "If Twitter is making money..."

Is it? Doesn't seem very likely at all that it is.

[+] cperciva|14 years ago|reply
Hearing news like this, I can't help wondering what will happen to twitter if/when the Arab Spring spreads to Saudi Arabia.
[+] zerostar07|14 years ago|reply
Presumably users would switch to alternatives in case of intervention, which would be a big hit to this prince's investment.
[+] rmc|14 years ago|reply
I doubt there'll be cases (like during the last Iranian Presidental election) where Twitter postpones upgrades to help the protesters.
[+] nodesocket|14 years ago|reply
Anybody know if this was a direct investment, or through a secondary market?
[+] chris123|14 years ago|reply
"Invests $300 million in Twitter" means "not secondary market."
[+] iamclovin|14 years ago|reply
I find it interesting that a government which allegedly funds terrorism [1] also funds a company which is supposed to be the shining beacon of transparency and a tool which has been crucial to the Arab Spring movements.

Wonder how much of an influence this will have on Twitter's self-censorship.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables...

[+] wging|14 years ago|reply
How much of Twitter does that get him?
[+] sumukh1|14 years ago|reply
Using the $8 Billion valuation, around 3.75% of Twitter.
[+] chris123|14 years ago|reply
Good time to reduce holdings if you're an insider or early investor.
[+] dazbradbury|14 years ago|reply
If SOPA passes, surely this will be a regrettable decision...
[+] dotcoma|14 years ago|reply
He was originally looking to splash money on a football (soccer in the US) club, but could not find one to buy, so... ;-)
[+] OoTheNigerian|14 years ago|reply
To those wondering if this is a secondary purchase, the keyword I see here is 'Invests'. It is very different from "Saudi Prince buys $300m worth of Twitter shares".
[+] brk|14 years ago|reply
Buying $300m worth of Twitter stock would be an investment.

In any reasonable scenario, he is purchasing shares of stock in a company on the hopes their value will rise. Doesn't matter who he is purchasing them from, it's still an investment.

[+] muyuu|14 years ago|reply
I wouldn't take such nuances for granted in a random headline.
[+] presidentx|14 years ago|reply
Smart investment. Twitter has really changed news and personal broadcasting in ways many of us don't appreciate. And Twitter has some of the smartest people dispersing pearls of wisdom and knowledge like nowhere else.

Again, Twitter is a smart investment - in more ways than just money.

[+] tatsuke95|14 years ago|reply
"And Twitter has some of the smartest people dispersing pearls of wisdom and knowledge like nowhere else"

You should check out the library.