Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds become the world's ATM
startups and funds said they avoided investment from the country over moral concerns. Some companies continue to steer clear of the kingdom, while human-rights groups say itsrecord on treatment of government dissidents remains aserious problem. But Saudi funding became more in demand last year when other money began to get tight.
At last year’s conference the Public Investment Fund’schief, Yasir Al Rumayyan, sat on a panel discussion with two of the world’s biggest investment-firm executives, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman and Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates. Top names in venture capital mixed on the floor, and FTX chief Sam Bankman Fried looked for funding. Ben Horowitz, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said at a PIF-sponsored conference this spring that Saudi Arabia was a “startup country," and referred to Prince Mohammed as its “founder" who was creating a new culture and new vision for the country.
At the same time, Saudi Prince Mohammed and top officials in the U.A.E. have jostled for greater sway on the world stage—in geopolitics, finance and sports—pumping additional money into their wealth funds to do deals and expand industry at home. The region’s new dominance is most apparent among private funds, the type that lock up investors’ money for years.
While detailed statistics are scarce, figures at two of the biggest sovereign funds suggest a surge. At Saudi’s PIF, commitments for “investment securities"—a category that includes private funds—rose to $56 billion in 2022, up from $33 billion a year earlier. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala reported that equity commitments doubled to $18 billion in 2022.
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