After splashing billions of dollars into high-profile global investments, Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion Public Investment Fund is stepping up spending at home. PIF, whose de facto chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has recently launched many startups and projects to use the country’s vast natural resources, from camel milk to electric vehicles.
PIF accounted for about a quarter of the almost $124 billion spent by sovereign wealth funds worldwide last year, a report published on Jan. 1 showed. The figure was a big jump from 2022 when the fund did just over $24 billion in deals. It also outspent Singapore’s Temasek and Canada’s GIC, which have ranked among the world’s top 10 sovereign wealth funds in previous years.
This year, the PIF made 49 deals worth $31.6 billion — including $4.9 billion for U.S. gaming company Scopely and $3.6 billion for Standard Chartered’s aircraft leasing division via its subsidiary AviLease. It also poured billions into domestic projects like a halal meat exporter and a venture to promote Saudi coffee worldwide.
The PIF’s dominance in deals is mainly due to its deep pockets, bolstered by a massive oil windfall that has left Gulf states with large budget surpluses. The other four Gulf sovereign wealth funds – Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company, ADQ, and Qatar Investment Authority — account for nearly 40 percent of all global sovereign funds’ total value of deals.
But these investments raise questions about how the funds are being used, especially in the United States, where their activities could exacerbate human rights abuses at home and abroad, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. It was issued ahead of testimony by the group before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday.
The hearing is expected to examine the role of the PIF in financing and facilitating human rights abuses in the country under its de facto leader, the crown prince. The fund has recently stepped up its spending in the United States with investments in sports, real estate, and technology. In June, it announced the merger of its golf-related businesses – including LIV Golf and the PGA Tour – into a “new collectively owned for-profit entity.”
The report points to evidence that PIF is helping the Saudi government to project a positive image of itself internationally by investing in sports. It has made headlines around the globe for its high-profile investments in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Newcastle United soccer club, and professional U.S. golf, where it has bought stakes that put it in control of the PGA tour and D.P. World.