NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said Monday he and his investment firm, Kingdom Holding Company, are purchasing a $300 million stake in Twitter.
The billionaire prince said the investment was made after "several months of negotiations" and would "represent a strategic stake" in the microblogging service.
"We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years. Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend," KHC executive director of private equity and international investments Ahmed Halawani, said in a press release.
While it's unclear how much control Alwaleed's investment will provide, the prince's investment firm looks to become "long-term" investors in its portfolio investments and according to the site, "seeks to work closely with the management of those companies and participate in strategic decisions."
With a reported net worth of $21.3 billion, Prince Alwaleed has topped Arabian Business's Arab Rich list for eight consecutive years.
Alwaleed's investment firm, KHC also owns a 7% stake in News Corporation (NWS) along with a host of high profile investments including a 29.9% stake in Saudi Research and Marketing Group. KHC's other investments include CNNMoney parent company Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500). Alwaleed also has plans to launch a privately owned news channel.
The Saudi prince is the latest power player to bet that the fast growing company will transform into a profitable business.
In August, the five-year-old social media company raised a "significant" funding round led by venture firm DST Global. The company amended its certificate of incorporation forms to authorize the issuance of up to 25 million new shares, priced at just over $16 per share. That would let the company raise around $400 million in new funding. Multiple reports pegged the company's valuation at $8 billion after the funding round.
With nearly 800 employees -- and around 100 hired in the last month -- Twitter is undergoing a transformation. After management shakeups, and an exodus of early employees, the company is bolstering its engineering team and focusing on expanding its reach.
Twitter, along with Facebook, is being closely watched for signs that it may look to file for an initial public offering.
Several social media firms have gone public this year, including LinkedIn (LNKD) and Groupon (GRPN). But both stocks cooled after their first day of trading. And last Friday, shares of social gaming company Zynga (ZNGA) fell on their first day.�
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/djrPS8_vcsQ/index.htm
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