An international tech giant is facing tough scrutiny over its ties to Saudi Arabia after the killing of a dissident journalist. Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank…
An international tech giant is facing tough scrutiny over its ties to Saudi Arabia after the killing of a dissident journalist.
Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank has been silent over the controversy even as scores of other companies have moved to distance themselves from Saudi Arabia.
The company has been relying heavily on Saudi money to help finance its $100 billion investment fund for U. S. tech startups.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), directed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with its $45 billion commitment, is the single largest contributor towards SoftBank’s Vision Fund.
While most business leaders have dropped out of a Riyadh business conference the Saudi fund is hosting later this month, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has so far remained committed to his speaking appearance.
SoftBank did not return multiple requests for comment.
The firm has perhaps the most to lose over a deteriorating relationship between the U. S. and the Saudis, especially if the kingdom’s money becomes too toxic for the private sector.
SoftBank has been planning to do another $100 billion round of Vision Fund investments and the PIF had already committed another $45 billion.
SoftBank is equally important to the Saudis who see the company as a key partner in their efforts to diversify the country’s economy beyond oil exports.
“Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank vision fund,” Crown Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg in an interview earlier this month.
SoftBank’s plans have been thrown in doubt as Saudi Arabia faces an international crisis over the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the royal family who had been residing in the U. S.
On Friday, two weeks after his disappearance after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Saudi Arabian government admitted that Khashoggi was dead. Officials claimed that he had been killed after a fist fight.
Turkish authorities have said they have evidence that Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered.
SoftBank’s stock price is down 15 percent since Khashoggi disappeared inside the consulate. And the firm appears to be reconsidering its plans for the future.
Marcelo Claure, SoftBank’s chief operating officer, said “there is no certainty” that it will go through with another Vision Fund.
“We like most parties in the world are looking at events unfold,” Claure said at a technology conference earlier this week, according to the Financial Times.
