Murphy urges safety assessment of Saudi stake in Twitter
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy stated he desires a nationwide safety assessment of a Saudi firm’s stake in Twitter following billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media web site.
Murphy, D-Conn., who leads a Senate Overseas Relations subcommittee, requested that the Committee on Overseas Funding within the U.S. examine the implications of the Saudi firm’s funding in Twitter. Led by the Treasury secretary, CFIUS is an interagency group that opinions sure overseas investments for nationwide safety.
Kingdom Holding Firm, the place Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is chairman, final week stated it will roll over its possession of Twitter shares value about $1.89 billion, making it the corporate’s second-largest shareholder. Such a stake can be greater than 4 p.c of Twitter’s market capitalization of $41.1 billion earlier than buying and selling was suspended final week. Musk is delisting the inventory subsequent week.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, owns 16.9 p.c of Kingdom Holding.
“We needs to be involved that the Saudis, who’ve a transparent curiosity in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, at the moment are the second-largest proprietor of a serious social media platform,” Murphy tweeted Monday.
