MBS, Macron love ‘manga’ comics so much, they plan a theme park
Who knew?
It turns out that French President Emmanuel Macron and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman both love “manga” comics so much that they plan to build a $7 billion theme park outside Paris partly dedicated to the Japanese form of graphic novel.
The two leaders agreed on the project during a two-day Paris summit, where they also sat together to watch the Esports World Cup finale.
The theme park’s construction will be led by Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya Investment Co., which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Besides the manga enclave, the project will house two other theme parks, along with hotels, restaurants and luxury residences.
Saudi leader to join Macron for Esports World Cup in Paris
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads to Paris on Sunday for a two-day visit that mixes geopolitics, business and Saudi Arabia’s multibillion-dollar bet on gaming.
French President Emmanuel Macron will host MBS for talks on economic ties and regional stability, and the two leaders will convene the Franco-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council for the first time, Arab News reports.
The visit comes as France and Saudi Arabia seek closer coordination on the Middle East amid the war with Iran and follows Macron’s trip to the kingdom in December 2024.
MBS and Macron will also attend Sunday’s closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup, which moved from Riyadh to Paris this year due to the regional conflict and is being held outside Saudi Arabia for the first time.
The tournament offers a showcase for one of the kingdom’s biggest diversification bets, with the Public Investment Fund committing $38 billion to turn Saudi Arabia into a global gaming hub.
Saudi PIF closes in on $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts
Almost a year after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund launched its bid for Electronic Arts, ardent gamer Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will take control tomorrow of one of the world’s largest video game companies.
The PIF’s $55 billion take-private deal for EA, backed by private equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, is expected to formally close at the end of trading on Aug. 4, after clearing a last regulatory hurdle from the European Commission last week.
Electronic Arts oversees a large stable of gaming franchises, from “Battlefield” and “The Sims” to sporting titles like “EA Sports FC,” formally known as “FIFA.” “Battlefield 6” has been a huge hit, selling seven million copies in three days when it launched last October and even outselling “Call of Duty,” one of the Crown Prince’s favorite games.
But the deal, considered the biggest leveraged buyout in history, saddles the new owners with about $20 billion in debt, adding to concerns in the industry that it will lead to fresh rounds of consolidation, cost-cutting and layoffs.
This comes as the PIF’s willingness to pump billions into its trophy investments has been curbed since the deal was struck last September amid a broad reassessment of spending on Vision 2030 mega projects and the growing economic toll of the Iran conflict.
Saudi Arabia posts largest quarterly deficit since 2020
Saudi Arabia posted its largest quarterly budget deficit since 2020 as lower oil revenue and spending by the government on NEOM and some of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s other ambitious projects widened its fiscal gap.
Signs of the worsening deficit have been evident for months, with the slowing down of NEOM’s $500 billion desert city called The Line and the shelving of the $50 billion Mukaab centerpiece in Riyadh’s New Murabba district.
The fiscal pressure has coincided with a leadership shake-up, with veteran investment minister Khalid Al-Falih replaced by Fahad Al-Saif, a former Public Investment Fund executive.
According to a Finance Ministry report issued on Monday, the kingdom recorded a shortfall of about 31 billion riyals ($8.2 billion) in the fourth quarter, with total revenue slipping while expenditures remained elevated.
The budget report showed oil income from state giant Saudi Aramco fell about 12% year on year to roughly $45 billion.
The government says it retains room to borrow and manage debt levels because of its relatively low debt-to-GDP ratio and continued access to global debt markets.
Saudi PIF shifts $12 billion in gaming investments to Savvy
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has moved to consolidate its expansive gaming investments, shifting about $12 billion worth of shares, including its stake in Nintendo, to its Savvy Games subsidiary.
Savvy, which was created in 2021 with a cash stockpile of $38 billion, is the backbone of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to dominate global gaming.
The move to bring more of the PIF’s gaming investments under one roof indicates a desire to further elevate Savvy’s status in the industry.
“These transfers will move the stewardship of PIF’s games investments to Savvy, given Savvy is a leading games organization for the PIF and a core component of the National Gaming and Esports Strategy,” Amar Batkhuu, a Savvy spokesperson, told Bloomberg, noting that the transfer has been planned for a long time.
Savvy’s investments include Niantic, the developer of mobile hit “Pokemon Go” and “Monopoly Go” developer Scopely Inc., as well as several esports plays, which have had mixed success.
Most recently, it has been in talks with TikTok owner ByteDance to buy its Shanghai Moonton Technology unit, one of the world’s most popular mobile developers.
The company’s success was somewhat overshadowed last year by the PIF’s own blockbuster deal to take gaming titan Electronic Arts private in a $50 billion leveraged buyout backed by private equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
Saudi Arabia invests to turn young generation into sports fans
Saudi Arabia is working to engage its sports fans from the bottom up.
As Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pours billions of dollars into international golf, tennis and football, Danny Townsend, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investments, says it’s vital to get the young generation hooked early in their lives.
“Frankly, I care far more about engaging a 10-year-old in a sport we invest in than engaging someone my age,” Townsend said in a panel discussion about sports at the Milken Summit. “If we get the product right and deliver it the right way for that young fan, the long-term value follows.”
Ben Harburg, the American investor who founded MSA Capital and bought Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kholood pro soccer club in July, said he’s constantly amazed by the dedication of local fans.
“I’ve had fans come up to me at matches with printed A4 pages – line-by-line recommendations on how we should compete in the league, which players to pursue, what style of play to adopt, even preferred formations,” Harburg said.
Saudi Arabia’s Savvy eyes next big move with ByteDance talks
Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, fresh off a $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts, is getting ready for its next blockbuster deal.
The PIF-backed firm, centerpiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategy for dominance in the global gaming market, is in talks with TikTok owner ByteDance to buy its Shanghai Moonton Technology unit, Bloomberg reports.
Along with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Savvy was backed by investors Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners on the EA deal.
If Savvy succeeds in buying Moonton, the acquisition would add one of the world’s most popular mobile developers – creator of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – to a portfolio that already includes some of gaming’s biggest console and PC properties.
Extending control from popular titles to fast-growing mobile hits could help Saudi Arabia influence how and what billions of gamers play. Bloomberg notes, however, that negotiations are still at an early stage, and as with an earlier failed attempt, the deal could unravel again.
Trump okays F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia in prelude to MBS summit
Even before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman touched down earlier today with an entourage of 1,000 on his first visit to the U.S. in seven years, U.S. President Donald Trump was playing dealmaker.
Bucking opposition in Congress for one of the most controversial items on the agenda when the two leaders meet at the White House, Trump said the sale to Saudi Arabia of a fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets for roughly $4 billion was practically in the bag.
“They want to buy it, they’ve been a great ally,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, adding, “Yeah, I will say that we will be doing that. We’ll be selling F-35s.”
Virtually every member of the Saudi cabinet, senior officials from the Public Investment Fund and CEOs from state-owned companies will be among those accompanying Prince Mohammed as part of a delegation Al-Arabiya said would total about 1,000. A more exclusive black-tie dinner is being arranged in the White House East Room for tonight.
Among the business leaders will be Tareq Amin, CEO of state-backed Humain, who is pitching Silicon Valley companies on the kingdom as a major source of AI computing power and is visiting the White House to seek U.S. approval for access to advanced American chips, Bloomberg reports.
Humain is central to Saudi plans to build large-scale AI infrastructure as the country aims to become one of the world’s largest exporters of computing resources.
On Wednesday, the two countries are organizing a Saudi-American investment forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, where both leaders are expected to appear, similar to the conference Saudi Arabia sponsored in May when Trump visited the kingdom. This week’s event is being organized by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and the U.S.-Saudi Business Council.
Saudi Arabia passes Pentagon hurdle in campaign to buy F35s
Saudi Arabia’s quest to buy as many as 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets from Lockheed Martin is picking up traction amid White House preparations for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Nov. 18 visit to the White House.
On its way to final approval, the deal cleared a critical hurdle when it recently received a green light from the Pentagon, Reuters reports. U.S. officials noted that the proposed sale still must be fully confirmed by the Trump administration with a formal notification to Congress.
Before delivery of the world’s most advanced fighter jets can be made to the Gulf kingdom, lawmakers have the authority to block or amend the deal, which is expected to draw scrutiny given regional sensitivities and human rights concerns.
Saudi Arabia has sought the F-35s as part of a broader effort to modernize its armed forces and replace aging aircraft. The request comes amid shifting regional alliances and increasing security coordination between Washington and the Gulf states, including the UAE and Qatar.
The F-35 boasts stealth capabilities that reduce radar visibility, though any Gulf sale would likely involve modifications or restrictions because U.S. policy requires that Israel, which first purchased the F35s in 2016, retain a “qualitative military edge” in the region, according to Reuters.
Saudi Arabia freezes home rents for 5 years, citing steep increases
Saudi Arabia has ordered a five-year freeze on rent increases for residential and commercial properties in Riyadh, effective immediately, citing a steep rise in housing costs.
The decree, issued by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, requires that rents for vacant units be capped at their last registered amount.
Under the new measures, landlords found violating the freeze could face fines up to a full year’s rent, and whistleblowers may be eligible for 20% of collected fines.
The freeze comes amid government concern about the impact of rising Saudi real estate values on cost of living in the capital, Bloomberg reports.
According to government data, private home rents jumped 13.9% and apartment rents 6.9% year-over-year in the second quarter.
High house prices and rents are undermining affordability, so much so that the Riyadh market saw a slowdown in deals for the first time in years in the first half of 2025, according to London-based consulting firm Knight Frank
