Saudi Arabia releases major tech investor after corruption probe


Saudi Arabia has released almost a hundred people detained on corruption allegations, and one of them is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The billionaire prince known as the "Arabian Warren Buffet" is one of the tech's biggest investors and known for having stakes in various tech corporations. His current and former investments include Apple, Amazon, AOL, eBay, HP, Twitter and Lyft. bin Talal was arrested in November when the government launched a massive crackdown on corruption and confined at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. The other detainees were released after reaching financial settlements -- authorities expect to raise $100 billion from them -- but it's unclear if bin Talal also offered to pay.

With a net worth of around $17 billion, the prince can definitely afford to. But he told Reuters in an interview hours before he was released that he's "continuing to maintain his innocence of any corruption in talks with authorities." He said his confinement was a misunderstanding and he supports Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's economic reform efforts contrary to earlier reports that he was critical of them. Despite being accused of money laundering, bribery and extorting officials, he said there'll be no charges: "There are just some discussions between me and the government. I believe we are on the verge of finishing everything within days."

While the terms of the prince's release weren't revealed, he said he expects to keep full control of his investment firm Kingdom Holding Company. He also assured the investors and investees of his business empire that he won't be required to surrender his assets to the government. If that's truly the case, we can likely expect his firm to invest in more tech companies in the future.

Source: Reuters, The New York Times

via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2DDZxMI"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs?
Read more