

Saudi prince invests $300 million in Twitter - pastr
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3Nk_HUGilGKjSdSBe0wlqNeUdYg?docId=ed903df8db814df7b2f227cc983835d9

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latchkey
Very interesting, but it really makes me wonder.

If Twitter is making money, why dilute the shares with investment like this?

I'm sure one response is 'so they can grow the company', but that seems like a
bit of a hard sell at this point.

How big does a company like Twitter really need to grow in order to be
successful enough that they don't need to take $300 million investment deals?
I mean, they are already the #1 provider of 140 character communication.

What is next?

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hristov
I am not certain but it is possible that this was a secondary market purchase.
The fact that it was announced by the Prince and not announced as a funding
round by Twitter suggests a secondary market purchase.

In other words, the Saudi Prince may have bought the stake from an existing
Twitter investor.

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abhishektwr
I think this is a direct investment at least according to WSJ, "Twitter
spokesman Matt Graves confirmed the investment"
[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020479110457710...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577107733831343976.html)

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hristov
That is a good find but it is not dispositive. For various legal reasons many
people want secondary market transactions in securities that are not
registered to happen through the company. So this may still be a secondary
market transaction, but I am sure we will find out soon enough.

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cperciva
Hearing news like this, I can't help wondering what will happen to twitter
if/when the Arab Spring spreads to Saudi Arabia.

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zerostar07
Presumably users would switch to alternatives in case of intervention, which
would be a big hit to this prince's investment.

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nodesocket
Anybody know if this was a direct investment, or through a secondary market?

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chris123
"Invests $300 million in Twitter" means "not secondary market."

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samt
How do you figure? The Saudi Prince is "investing" regardless of how the
equity is purchased. The question is if this is an "investment" from twitter's
perspective. Signs seem to point to no.

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chris123
The word "in" means "in", which means "not secondary market."

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iamclovin
I find it interesting that a government which allegedly funds terrorism [1]
also funds a company which is supposed to be the shining beacon of
transparency and a tool which has been crucial to the Arab Spring movements.

Wonder how much of an influence this will have on Twitter's self-censorship.

[1] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-
cables...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-
terrorist-funding)

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wging
How much of Twitter does that get him?

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sumukh1
Using the $8 Billion valuation, around 3.75% of Twitter.

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f7u12
This concerns me about my investment as a user in Twitter. Even if it's only
3.75% of Twitter the company now owns, I don't necessarily want to support the
venture of a Saudi billionaire. Maybe if they are really proponents freedom of
speech and the press, it isn't such a bad thing.

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jamesm2
I'm sure you don't drive a car, either.

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davidhansen
Yes, and here's to hoping he doesn't do any business with Citibank, directly
or indirectly.

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sjayman
Or uses any Apple products. Or Owns a car or truck from GM. The prince has
huge stakes in each

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chris123
Good time to reduce holdings if you're an insider or early investor.

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dazbradbury
If SOPA passes, surely this will be a regrettable decision...

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dotcoma
He was originally looking to splash money on a football (soccer in the US)
club, but could not find one to buy, so... ;-)

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adrianwaj
Feeling pwnage right now.

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OoTheNigerian
To those wondering if this is a secondary purchase, the keyword I see here is
'Invests'. It is very different from "Saudi Prince _buys_ $300m worth of
Twitter shares".

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brk
Buying $300m worth of Twitter stock would be an investment.

In any reasonable scenario, he is purchasing shares of stock in a company on
the hopes their value will rise. Doesn't matter who he is purchasing them
_from_ , it's still an investment.

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pitdesi
FYI this is a secondary purchase (ie it was not an investment in twitter
directly, but rather he purchased shares from other investors):
[http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-
deal-...](http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-deal-for-
twitter-is-a-secondary/)

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presidentx
Smart investment. Twitter has really changed news and personal broadcasting in
ways many of us don't appreciate. And Twitter has some of the smartest people
dispersing pearls of wisdom and knowledge like nowhere else.

Again, Twitter is a smart investment - in more ways than just money.

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tatsuke95
_"And Twitter has some of the smartest people dispersing pearls of wisdom and
knowledge like nowhere else"_

You should check out the library.

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presidentx
Twitter is easy to mock, but I suggest you compile a list of your favorite
thought leaders on twitter, then have the list emailed to you via a service
like tweetymail.

Then you'll start to get a glimpse of how potent twitter can be.

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tatsuke95
Who is mocking? I use Twitter regularly. But I'm not the one claiming that
it's the greatest source of wisdom and knowledge on the planet. It's an
interesting and useful form of media, but it's not even clear whether there's
a viable business model in there.

