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☆ Saudi Arabia is planning to execute three local tribe members who opposed its futuristic NEOM megacity project, UN experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Three men protesting the NEOM project have been sentenced to death, UN human rights experts said. The experts group said the men had been convicted under an "overly vague" terror law which appears not to meet international law. This image shows the planned design of 'The Line,' a 'vertical skyscraper' which forms part of the futuristic Saudi Arabian city of NEOM. Three further tribe members were given prison sentences of up to 50 years, the experts group said. Since January 2020, residents of the three villages of Al Khuraiba, Sharma and Gayal have been evicted without fair compensation, despite promises from the state, the experts group said.

☆ LIV Golf Fight Stirs Up Questions About Saudi Ownership of Newcastle United
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Joshua Robinson | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—When Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund took a majority interest in English soccer team Newcastle United in 2021, the Premier League set out a clear condition before approving the sale. Newcastle, the league said, couldn’t in any way be controlled by the government of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Public Investment Fund assured the league that the team’s operations would be free of state influence, despite the fund’s chairman being Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Elon Musk and Tesla were found not liable by a jury in a San Francisco federal court on Friday in a class action securities fraud trial stemming from tweets Musk made in 2018. The Tesla , SpaceX and Twitter CEO was sued by Tesla shareholders over a series of tweets he wrote in Aug. 2018 saying he had "funding secured" to take the automaker private for $420 per share, and that "investor support" for such a deal was "confirmed." Trading in Tesla was halted after his tweets, and its share price remained volatile for weeks. "I am deeply appreciative of the jury's unanimous finding," Musk wrote on Twitter. During the course of this trial, Musk also said he would have sold shares of SpaceX to finance a going private deal for Tesla, as well as taking funds from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

☆ 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.

☆ Saudi Arabia's new love for soccer could cause ripple effects across the sports world
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with the jersey after signing with Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr Football Club in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 30, 2022. Al Nassr Football Club / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesSoccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Saudi club Al-Nassr, and the kingdom's growing investments in the sport, could have ripple effects across Europe and the U.S., experts have told CNBC. The former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus star earlier this week contended that the "unique contract" was befitting of his status as a "unique player." The Financial Times reported in October that the Saudi PIF had committed more than $2 billion to sponsorship deals over the first eight months of 2022, most of which was directed toward domestic soccer competitions. The Saudi PIF's takeover of Newcastle United was met with criticism across the soccer world — deemed an effort to launder the country's reputation against the backdrop of a poor human rights record.

☆ 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.

☆ Saudi crown prince launches Ceer, first Saudi electric vehicle brand
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

CAIRO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched Ceer, the first Saudi electric vehicle brand, expected to be available in 2025, the state news agency (SPA) reported on Thursday. Ceer will attract over $150 million of foreign direct investment and is projected to directly contribute $8 billion to the kingdom's GDP by 2034, SPA added. The company is a joint venture between Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn), SPA said. Reporting by Alaa Swilam; editing by David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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