Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has sold his business to the Saudi government for $1.5 billion. Earlier, the Saudi authorities accused the businessman of corruption and detained him, but released him after a deal with the government.
According to Reuters, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has bought shares in investment company Kingdom Holding Co. The price per share was $2.4. In total, the fund purchased 625 million shares for a total of 5.7 billion riyals ($1.5 billion).
In 2018, Prince Alwaleed became a defendant in an anti-corruption campaign. He was arrested and held for about three months at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton, along with scores of royals, senior officials and businessmen.
Alwaleed was released after a deal with the government.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is known for managing over $600 billion in assets and is at the center of the Saudi government’s program to diversify the economy away from oil.
