One of the world’s richest men is banking on Twitter to make him even richer.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced on Monday that he has invested $300 million in the massively popular microblogging service, which is revamping its site to attract more advertisers.
It remains unclear how much of the company Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding has agreed to purchase, but reports say he values Twitter at roughly $10 billion.
“Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” Alwaleed said in a press release, which described Twitter as a “communication platform that instantly connects people everywhere to what`s most meaningful to them.”
Alwaleed, who is worth around $20 billion, already holds stakes in Citigroup, General Motors, Apple and News Corp., among other companies. He is the largest individual shareholder in Citigroup and the largest shareholder in News Corp. outside the Murdoch family.
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In Twitter, he has invested in a company that has attracted a large fan base – more than 100 million users abide by the 140-character limit – but also one that has yet to fully realize its revenue potential. It has gradually built up its ad presence and is said to forecast a substantial increase in said revenue next year.
However, while the true social networking giant of the West, Facebook, is said to be readying an initial public offering, Twitter has not indicated any plans to do so just yet.
Earlier this summer, Twitter raised $400 million from private investors, led by DST Global, who valued the company at $8 billion.