Not only are the Saudis are a viable pool of cash for cash-seekers, they are building considerable leverage in Silicon Valley deal-making.
The Saudi Arabian government cannot make any Silicon Valley hotshot do anything. But they can make it awfully appetizing.The news that the Saudi government had essentially convinced Elon Musk to weigh taking Tesla private served as another reminder that Riyadh is an ascendant, underrated power player in Silicon Valley finance. If Musk and the Saudis manage to take the $60 billion company off the public markets, it will embolden a sovereign wealth fund that, despite its charm offensive in recent years, is still working to secure its footing in America’s old-guard money world.The Saudis have not been quiet about their ambitions to play with the big boys in Silicon Valley over the last three years. The country’s $3.5 billion investment in Uber was not a splash but the opening of a gusher, an unsaid hello from Saudi Arabia to U.S. companies that it is a willing investor if they will help move the Saudis off their dependence on oil.Soon after came Saudi-sized checks into the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund, the most ambitious investing project in Silicon Valley today. America’s jet-setting class toasted the country last October at what has become a new stop on the high-finance conference calendar. And, of course, there was this year’s visit by Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s emissary to Silicon Valley, who was greeted with glitz and glam at America’s most prominent corporations.Don’t be surprised if the Saudi sovereign wealth fund soon opens an office in San Francisco or on Sand Hill Road.These Saudi moves haven’t been universally embraced....MORE
