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The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and one-time bitter rivals LIV Golf circuit announced a landmark agreement on Tuesday to merge. But Trump, who owns three courses on LIV Golf's 14-event schedule for 2023, celebrated the deal in a Truth Social post. "Great news from Liv Golf. The PGA Tour had responded by dramatically raising prize money for some events. The deal could also be seen as good for consumers, according to Steve Ross, a sport antitrust expert at Pennsylvania State University's law school.

Persons: Donald Trump, Yasir Al, LIV, Read, Jamal Khashoggi, Rumayyan, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, Trump, LIV Golf's, Liv Golf, PGA's, Seth Bloom, hasn't, Steve Ross, Nevena Simidjiyska, Diane Bartz, Echo Wang, Steve Keating, Tyler Clifford, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Trump National Golf Club, PGA Golf, Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Liv, Department of Justice, Bloom, Pennsylvania State, Reuters, of Foreign Investment, Treasury, Fox Rothschild LLP, Thomson Locations: Washington, DC, USA, Sterling , Va, WASHINGTON, Saudi, Kingdom, American, United States, U.S

☆ Middle Eastern investors are pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment — here are the 9 most active players and their key leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

Persons: Jamal Khashoggi's, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, —, WME, Jimmy Finkelstein's, Abu Dhabi's, It's, Yasir Al, Rumayyan, Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Sam Barnett, Peter Smith —, Christina Wayne, SRMG, Mohammed bin Salman, Alrashid, Johnny Depp, Jeanne du Barry, Sharon Stone, Bruno Mars, Luca Guadanigno, Vince McMahon's, Turki Al, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Dayel, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al, Mahmoud, Peter Chernin, Nasser Al, Germain, BeIN, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad, Khalifa Al, Vincent, Asghar Farhadi's Oscar, Nart Bouran, JAF, Jeff Zucker, Graydon Carter's, it's, Semafor, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mansour, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Organizations: United, Sovereign, Saudi, Washington Post, Saudi Crown, Endeavor, UFC, IMI, Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, Public Investment Fund, Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United, English football, PGA, MBC, Shahid, Netflix, Vice Media, Variety, MBC Group's, Antenna Group, Cineflex Studios, NBCUniversal International, Amazon, AMC, Saudi Research, Media, Publicly, Red Sea, Cannes, Penske Media Corporation, Bloomberg Media, Vince McMahon's WWE, country's General Entertainment Authority, Development, Cultural Development Fund, George Washington University, American University . Qatar Qatar Investment, Qatar Investment Authority, Providence, BeIN Media, Paris Saint, Miramax, Paramount, Doha Film, Doha Film Institute, H.E, Hollywood Reporter, United Arab Emirates Abu, Investment Authority, UAE, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Hollywood, Dubai Studio, Dubai Media City, National Geographic, BBC News, International Media Investments International Media Investments, National, CNN, Sky News Arabia, Reuters, JAF Communications, Grid, RedBird Capital Partners, Punchbowl News, New York Times, Manchester City, The, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Saudi, East, North Africa, Al Arabiya, Netherlands, Greece, Dubai, Jeddah, SRMG, Riyadh, Doha, Europe, Americas, ViacomCBS, Qatari, Thani, Abu Dhabi

Public Investment Fund LIV Golf Trump World Performance54 LIV Golfers PLUS 45 OTHERS CONSULTANTS LAWYERS McKinsey & Company PwC Public Investment Fund Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan White & Case M. Klein & Company Teneo Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Majed al-Sorour Newcastle United Aramco Golf Saudi Benjamin Quayle Yasir al-Rumayyan Ari Fleischer Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LIV Golf Performance54 Trump World Greg Norman Donald J. Trump Gary Davidson Jed Moore Eric Trump Jared Kushner LIV Golfers Cameron Smith Phil Mickelson Dustin Johnson PLUS 45 OTHERSLIV Golf has cleaved men’s professional golf like no other force since the 1960s. Some of the world’s top players, including Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, have become the faces of LIV Golf. The Public Investment FundDiagram of the major figures in LIV Golf that are connected to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund. LIV Golf Trump World Eric Trump Jared Kushner Donald J. Trump Public Investment Fund Jared Kushner’s firm accepted a $2 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund.

☆ 9 Middle Eastern funds and investors pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Governments and investors in the Middle East are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ Court Allows the PGA Tour to Directly Sue LIV Golf’s Saudi Backers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Andrew Beaton | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, left, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi, center, and Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf. Since the beginning of the high-profile legal wranglings between the PGA Tour and its rival LIV Golf last year, the Tour has consistently angled to place LIV’s backing from Saudi Arabia at the center of the feud. Now, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has granted one of the PGA Tour’s chief goals. A ruling issued late Tuesday will allow the Tour to add Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV’s financial backer, and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan , as defendants in its lawsuit against LIV.

☆ LIV Golf’s Saudi Backers Ordered to Turn Over Information in PGA Tour Suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Dustin Johnson hits from the tee during a LIV Golf event. A federal judge has ruled that LIV Golf’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan , aren’t entitled to sovereign immunity and must turn over information connected with the upstart circuit’s courtroom battle with the PGA Tour. The PIF and Al-Rumayyan had argued that there was no court in the U.S. with jurisdiction over them, saying they were shielded because they are part of a foreign government.

☆ Elon Musk says he is 'deeply appreciative' of the jury that cleared him in the Tesla trial, tweeting 'Thank goodness'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk was cleared Friday by a federal jury over his "funding secured" 2018 tweet to take Tesla private. "Thank goodness" the billionaire tweeted late Friday night following the verdict by a federal jury of nine individuals in the civil trial. Musk's 2018 tweet, which pushed Tesla's shareholders to launch the costly legal battle against him, read: "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." Musk told jurors in January that he trusted Al-Rumayyan's verbal promises, which led to the "funding secured" tweet about taking Tesla private.

☆ Elon Musk was reportedly cleared by a federal jury's verdict that his 'funding secured' tweet in 2018 didn't harm Tesla investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A jury found investors failed to prove Elon Musk derailed them with his tweet that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private, per the WSJ. Tesla investors had alleged that his public statements resulted in billions of dollars in damages. Those verbal assurances in part led him to tweet that he had "funding secured" for a take-private deal for Tesla, he told jurors last month. Musk's tweet, which he posted in August 2018, read, "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Porritt, the Tesla investors' attorney, had framed the stakes of the case in sweeping, existential terms, arguing that it came down to a question of whether regular investors could trust the public markets.

Musk is defending against claims he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that "investor support is confirmed." Musk testified for about five hours on Monday and for less than 30 minutes on Friday. Tesla's stock price surged after Musk's 2018 tweets, only to fall as it became clear the buyout would not happen. Musk testified that when tweeting about the financing, he was saying "not that it will happen, but that I am thinking about it," and that it was his "opinion" that funding was secured. Musk said the fund's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment to take Tesla private.

Companies Tesla Inc FollowJan 24 (Reuters) - Elon Musk will take the stand on Tuesday in San Francisco, after telling a jury on Monday that he had locked up financial support in 2018 to take his electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) private. Musk is defending against claims he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that "investor support is confirmed." "With SpaceX stock alone, I felt funding was secured" for the buyout, Musk told a jury on Monday, referring to the aerospace company where he is also chief executive officer. Tesla's stock price surged after Musk's 2018 tweets, only to fall as it became clear the buyout would not happen. Musk said the fund's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment to take Tesla private.

Musk is defending against claims he defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018, that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 per share, and that "investor support is confirmed." He has testified that he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process. A jury of nine will decide whether the Tesla CEO artificially inflated the company's share price by touting the buyout's prospects, and if so by how much. In addition, Musk testified on Monday that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of the Public Investment Fund at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. Musk said the fund's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment to take Tesla private.

[1/5] Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. He added later that he chose not to take Tesla private due to a lack of support from some investors and a wish to avoid a lengthy process. Musk told the investors' lawyer Nicholas Porritt that he met on July 31, 2018, with representatives of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California. That never came to pass, Musk said, because the fund's governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, later backpedaled on the commitment to take Tesla private. "I was very upset because he had been unequivocal in his support for taking Tesla private when we met and now he appeared to be backpedaling," Musk testified.

"PIF unequivocally wanted to take Tesla private," he testified. Musk subsequently said that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the fund, later backpedaled on the commitment to take Tesla private. "I was very upset because he had been unequivocal in his support for taking Tesla private when we met and now he appeared to be backpedaling," Musk testified. Tesla's stock price surged after Musk's tweets, and later fell as it became clear the buyout would not materialize. Musk testified calmly, in contrast to his occasional combative testimony in earlier trials.

Musk defended his "funding secured" tweet in a securities fraud trial brought by Tesla shareholders. He testified that he sent the tweet after verbal assurances from Saudi investor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. He said that Al-Rumayyan told them that "they would do whatever it took to get it done," and that he'd been "unequivocal" about supporting the deal. Al-Rumayyan, Musk, and attorneys for Musk and Tesla shareholders did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. The billionaire claims he planned to take Tesla private at the time of tweeting "funding secured" in August 2018.

The lawsuit seeks damages for shareholders who bought or sold Tesla stock in the days after Musk's tweets on Aug. 7, 2018. The shareholders have not specified the damages, but said Musk's tweets cost investors "billions." Potential panelists were asked ahead of time about their opinions of Musk and whether they own a Tesla vehicle. Investors sued in August 2018, shortly after Musk posted on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share. The defendants have said in court papers that they will argue that Musk had good reason to believe funding for the deal was secured.

☆ Tesla investors argue Musk can receive fair 'funding secured' trial in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Tom Hals | Thomson Reuters | Award-Winning Reporter With More Than Two Decades Of Experience In International News | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Videos of an audience booing Musk during a surprise appearance at a Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco in December were circulated online. Tesla moved its headquarters from the San Francisco area to Texas in 2021. Musk tweeted in August 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private, sparking 10 days of volatile trading in its stock shares, bonds and options. Defendants, which also include Tesla and its board at the time, will make their case that Musk was not misleading investors in a material way. Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk attorneys try to move trial from California to Texas, citing ‘local negativity’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Attorneys for Tesla and Elon Musk are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to move, or delay, a forthcoming trial from Northern California to Western Texas, saying they won’t be able to find unbiased jurors and citing “local negativity” toward Musk. That year, Musk resided in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto. In a recent public appearance in San Francisco, Musk was booed after comedian Dave Chappelle invited him on stage. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly claimed that he made a handshake deal with investors from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private at $420 per share. Text messages revealed in another trial in 2022 suggested Saudi PIF investors had not fully agreed to fund a Tesla deal.

☆ Elon Musk attorneys aim to move trial from California to Texas, citing ‘local negativity’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Attorneys for Tesla and Elon Musk are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to move, or delay, a forthcoming trial from Northern California to Western Texas, saying they won't be able to find unbiased jurors and citing "local negativity" toward Musk. That year, Musk resided in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto. In a recent public appearance in San Francisco, Musk was booed after comedian Dave Chappelle invited him on stage. Musk and his attorneys have previously argued that his statements about a possible take-private deal for Tesla in 2018 did not violate the law. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly claimed that he made a handshake deal with investors from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

As the Covid-19 pandemic sent global markets swooning in early 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sensing opportunity, pressed the country’s sovereign-wealth fund to go on an international stock-buying spree. The board of the Public Investment Fund, or PIF, resisted the move as too risky, but soon found itself overruled by an even higher authority, Prince Mohammed’s father, King Salman, according to an October podcast by the PIF governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan.

☆ Elon Musk's lawyers subpoena head of Saudi Arabia's $620 billion wealth fund for Tesla 'funding secured' tweets case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Investors are suing Elon Musk over an August 2018 tweet where he claimed he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private. Musk's lawyers have subpoenaed Saudi Arabia's top wealth manager to be a defense witness in the upcoming court case. Text messages disclosed in April showed Musk raging at Yasir Al-Rumayyan for not supporting his efforts to privatize Tesla. PIF is a sovereign wealth fund – meaning that it invests on behalf of Saudi Arabia's government. Read more: Elon Musk raged at the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for failing to support his bid to take Tesla private, texts show

☆ Head of Saudi investment fund subpoenaed in case over Musk’s ‘funding secured’ tweet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk’s team has subpoenaed the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as part of litigation over the Tesla CEO’s 2018 tweet that he was considering taking the car company private and had secured funding to do so. Musk has long maintained that he was considering taking Tesla private at the time he made the tweet. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund invests in entities that are important to the country’s economic growth, and says it had $620 billion assets under management as of early 2022. Musk’s team also subpoenaed three other members of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The Tesla CEO also expressed frustration about several news reports citing unnamed sources that suggested the Saudi fund had shown no interest in funding a take-private deal.

Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERSDUBAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is working with Lazard (LAZ.N) on funding options and a potential initial public offering of Masar, a $27 billion mega project in the holy city of Mecca, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters. The PIF, Lazard and Masar did not respond to a Reuters query for comment. Bloomberg first reported Lazard was advising the sovereign wealth fund on NEOM. Masar is a 1.2 million square metre urban development project in the western part of Mecca. Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh;Editing by Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ PGA Tour Accuses LIV Golf’s Saudi Benefactors of Claiming Immunity From U.S. Courts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Andrew Beaton | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LIV Golf’s financing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund has loomed over the upstart golf circuit since its inception, above all in its battles with the PGA Tour. Now, the PGA Tour has accused LIV of attempting to evade discovery in their high-profile court battle by claiming that there is no court in the U.S. with jurisdiction over LIV’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan .

☆ PGA Tour Accuses LIV Golf’s Saudi Benefactors of Claiming Immunity from U.S. Courts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Andrew Beaton | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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