Saudi Public Investment Fund Considering Increasing Its Stake In Nintendo

Will make investments in a "friendly" way

by · Nintendo Life
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is considering increasing its stake in Nintendo and other gaming firms, it has been revealed.

Speaking in an interview with Japanese new agency Kyodo News, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, vice chair of the PIF's gaming unit, revealed the desire to expand but said that there was no urgency to make further investments, and that any increased stake will be made in a "friendly" manner.

PIF currently owns 8.58% of Nintendo currently, and is the largest outside investor in the company.

It has minority stakes in video game companies Nexon (10.53%), Keoi Tecmo (8.99%), and Capcom (6.60%). It also owns 96% of King of Fighters and Fatal Fury creator SNK.

Increased investment in gaming entities is part of Saudi Arabia's drive to reduce its reliance on oil exports, the nation's main source of wealth.

It initially took a 5% stake in Nintendo in 2022, increasing the stake to 6% the following year.

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[source reuters.com, via mynintendonews.com]

About Damien McFerran

Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media's sites from an editorial perspective. He's also the editor of Time Extension, the network's newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming's past glories.

Comments 58

Just a heads up before anyone jumps to conclusions-

  • Nintendo's president has stated they have plans to tackle any hostile takeovers
  • Nintendo is a public company and anyone can buy shares so they can't prevent people from doing so
  • They can however object should any shareholders from outside of Japan owning more than 10% of a company by taking it to the government (or was it courts?) to put a stop to it.

In SNKs case, I would hazard a guess that they either accepted the buyout or no longer exist and render all employees as redundant. Again, I'm not Billy Business but that's my understanding

God I hope not. I'm kind of willing to tolerate the stake they have now, reluctantly, but if we ever get to a point where they own like half of Nintendo then I'm done with Nintendo.

Where's the new neo geo that they promises years ago?

It’s only a matter of time before Nintendo becomes a bigger target of outside and outsized investment. Doubtless NCL’s legal has its best options lined up in any event

Not particularly worried considering all the facts I would've mentioned hadn't @martynstuff already done so, couldn't have said it better!

Although I’m not fond of any shareholder having too much power in a company, I can see why Nintendo is an appealing option to invest in, as they continue to produce quality products and have the trust of their customers- mainly because they don’t allow shareholders to control how they do business.

TL;DR - We know our previous investment announcements were met with less-than-stellar responses from Nintendo fans but being oil barons can no longer fund the lavish lifestyles we live due to global issues and stopping now would be the same signing our own death certificates.

I’m not exactly happy with Saudi Arabia showing this much interest in foreign investments (or any other government-owned investment firms expressing interest in the arts for that matter) but Nintendo has been pretty firm with sticking to their guns.

@martynstuff SNK was bought out by a Chinese holdings group in 2016 and that’s how Saudi Arabia was able to eventually get a majority stake in the company.

Yuck. I wasn’t aware of that. Nintendo should find some way of preventing this.

Removed - inappropriate

@martynstuff I don't come to this comment section expecting informative responses, but here we are. Thank you!

The Saudi PIF is already ruining sport, I don't want them near my video games.

Please no, they are already ruining golf and football.

@ZebZed Is that so? I didn't know that bit. I'll take note of that in the future

Appreciate @martynstuff comments. That said, the Saudi PIF Wikipedia page is certainly a ride. Yikes.

Norwegian Oil Fund invested in Nintendo since 1997 and they earned a lot of money on it.
This oil fund isn't allowed to own more than max 10% of any company on the planet. Their own rule.

In a comedy TV series, the oil fund accidently bought 100% of Disney.

Maybe they are massive gamers themselves 😎

No thanks. Find something else to ruin.

I know people objected to this in the comments back when they first started buying shares in Nintendo and SNK due to various "human rights violations" committed by the Saudi government, but does that apply to the crown prince as well? I watched an interview with him from a year or two ago, and he seemed like a pretty chill guy. He talked about how online gaming with his buddies is a big hobby of his to help blow off steam. It was notable for being Saudi's first interview with a Western journalist in I don't know how long, and he was talking about wanting to make positive changes in the country, have a stronger relationship with neighboring countries like Israel (this was way before Oct 7th happened, so idk what his current thought process is about that one).

And he, expectedly, denied any involvement by the Saudi government in 9/11. Maybe I'm just gullible, but he seemed genuine, I believed him. He talked about how it wouldn't have made any sense, as Bin Laden was a domestic threat even when he was living there, and that's why they expelled him from the country. So, I dunno. My knowledge on Saudi Arabia is very limited, to be honest, but I didn't get bad vibes. Maybe they're changing? Or maybe I'm naive, which is also entirely possible.

@CriticalHit Their crown prince actually is. He has a squad of buddies he games with online to blow off steam. He talked about it in an interview a while back.

@Not_Soos That actually is quite interesting. And if you weren't aware, here in the United States, Hillary Clinton also likes games (at least she did back in the day; no idea about today). There's actually a photo from 1993 of her sitting on a plane playing a Game Boy.

If I ever got the chance to meet her, I'd love for her to autograph a copy of that photo for me. I don't agree with all of her politics, but it's not every day that you meet an influential politician who shares the same hobby as you.

@AstroTheGamosian Didn't she reference Pokemon in a campaign speech once? May have just been a 'for da kids' kind of comment her team told her to say, but funny if she played it.

@Not_Soos And in regard to how you thought the Crown Prince seemed genuine, that's actually how dictators get you to like them. They come across as genuine, lull you into a false sense of security, and then they take absolute power. By the time you realize anything is wrong, it's too late.

I remember seeing a photo of Joseph Stalin holding a little girl (her name was Engelsina Markizova) in his arms. In the photo, he seemed kind and grandfatherly. It became widely used for pro-Stalinist propaganda. The girl's father was later executed on false charges of being a spy for the Japanese, her mother was imprisoned and deported to Kazakhstan where she passed away from unknown circumstances, and the girl herself was shunned by her classmates and sent to live with relatives in Moscow. Furthermore, the identity of the girl in the photo was deliberately misattributed by officials to be someone else entirely. The photo began to fade into obscurity after Stalin's death and the resulting de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union.

So it is possible that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is being genuine, but it is also entirely possible that he is just appearing so in order to lull people into a false sense of security so that it makes his power grab all the smoother.

@HydroTendonMan In what way are they ruining sports? Just curious as someone who doesn't follow sports

@Mana_Knight I'm not certain about that, but it is possible that the game she was playing in the photo was either Super Mario Land or Tetris, as those two games often came bundled with the original Game Boy. As it is, the Game Boy in question belonged to her daughter, Chelsea.

According to a Snopes article about the photo, a news reporter by the name of Sara Williams tried to do some digging to see what kind of games and consoles that Hillary Clinton enjoyed, only to be told by people at the White House that it was a state secret, as revealing that info could be considered an official endorsement of one product over another.

@Not_Soos
You seem like a person with a good heart. But I'm afraid you are naive.

Removed - inappropriate

@Not_Soos

That’s just their public image. You need to ask yourself if they’re as chill as they’re trying to convey in their public image.

Please let them stay away from Nintendo.

@Not_Soos if I may also add….it doesn’t matter if he plays call of duty or not. I played COD 1,2, and 3. Does that automatically make me a good person??? I’d like to think that I am, but the answer really lies within a person’s character.

@Not_Soos If by crown Prince you mean MBS/Mohammed bin Salman, an international investigation determined that he was the one who directly ordered the killing and dismemberment of that journalist in 2018 that was all over the news, because said journalist had been critical of him. His government is authoritarian and regularly imprisons and tortures dissidents. MBS is very focused on creating a good image, but his actions ultimately speak for themselves; for example, despite being known for ending the ban on women driving, his government (since his seizure of power and purge of political opponents between 2017 and 2019) has also been responsible for more arrests of female rights activists than at any prior time in Saudi Arabia’s history.

Never assume the character of authoritarian world leaders from the tailored online gaming streams they put together. That’s their PR at work. Look into the actions they’ve taken to acquire power and what they did to perceived threats to their power.

As @martynstuff mentioned, Im not too worried since Nintendo has means to protect themselves from hostile takeovers. And between Saudi Arabia and Blackrock, I much rather have the former owning shares than the latter. (I remember reading somewhere that Nintendo actually bans Blackrock from investing in them).

@Not_Soos The same guy who "seemed genuine" is also directly responsible for the murder and dismemberment of a journalist who opposed him. Con artists and dictators often "seem genuine", otherwise no one would ever believe them and they wouldn't be a problem.

Regarding Saudi involvement in 9/11, he's probably telling the truth in that officially, the Saudi government wasn't involved and it wouldn't make sense for them to be involved. But individual members of the government, as well as members of the Saudi royal family, most likely were, and the government is protecting them. The Saudi royal family extends to literally thousands of members, and their involvement wouldn't imply any complicity on the part of the ruling members of the family.

As others have already stated, this is nothing to worry about. Nintendo has been in the business for far too long to suddenly be outmanoeuvred through shares.

I usually don’t comment on this but I am glad Nintendo won’t allow anyone to buy them. Not Microsoft, not Saudi Arabia or anyone else. I still don’t understand that snk deal since the Japanese government really takes a close look at outsiders buying up companies in japan. I think there is something else going on besides what was listed above in this comment section but that’s just my speculation. I am an investor of Nintendo myself. I got a lot of my money on them specifically so I always watch for news about stock very closely. I get why Saudi Arabia is doing this of course but I will say that the issues in Saudi Arabia like human rights is a big deal. They still won’t really acknowledge any wrong on their part(or rather feel guilty from the things they were accused of it seems) Not that I expected them too. 😂. This just what I know from people I have talked to and read about.

@Not_Soos your heart is in the right place, but you’re just really uninformed, more than naive. If you’d like to correct that, you can.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/06/executions-saudi-arabia-record-high-crown-prince-mohammed/

Also, this has barely anything to do with making money, it’s about having more and more control on culture and their public image. It’s even more dangerous.

This is what state investment funds do. Invest. They hardly, if ever, buy the entirety of big companies like Nintendo.

@Ironcore Interesting associations made here.

Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 - "Hide the body simulator - Embassy edition"

@CriticalHit Prince MBS himself is a gamer lol.

As reported in the article: "Increased investment in gaming entities is part of Saudi Arabia's drive to reduce its reliance on oil exports, the nation's main source of wealth."

Nope. I very much doubt that's true. In sport it's called sportswashing. So here it's gameswashing.

The Saudi government will probably use their ever growing stateholder bully pulpit to demand that the Muslim prayer / chant that was originally part of (but then subsequently removed from) Zelda: Ocarina of Time's "Fire Temple" theme be reinstated in all future re-releases of the game (J/k) (Or am I...? 🤣)

Shout out to @martynstuff for the great info at the top of this. This information is spot on, but I wanted to add some specific details.

Specific to Nintendo, their founding articles include a "poison pill" clause, which allows the largest stake holder to simple issue new shares if threatened with a takeover.

Specific to Japan, if a company founded in Japan is subject to a majority takeover by an entity outside of Japan, the government has the power to give control of the company back to it's original founders or a line of succession chosen in a way outlined in the founding documents (or, technically, anyone in Japan if nether of those options are viable). Everyone gets to keep their shares, but it's now effectively run as a private company, with the board of directors and all executives positions no longer voted in by shareholders. Combine this was the first point and one of the first things this new board will do is issue enough new shares to dilute the value and ensure the majority of shares return to Japan.

While not technically impossible, trying to hostilely take over a Japanese company is a really bad investment. You take on a ton of risk to enter a highly regulated market that is openly hostile to foreign investment. There are simply better ways to spend your money.

Reminder that this is a country that executes gay people. I’m opposed to any government owning shares in game companies, but this one is especially iffy.

@Andy_Witmyer Ironically and unfortunately, the urged removal was partly because there's currently religious propaganda in Saudi Arabia saying "all music is haram" Yes. All music.

Unfortunately nobody seems to have the foresight that all the call to prayers that lots of muslims praise as being "one of the most beautiful sounds they've ever heard" is in itself, music. A hymn in fact. So the televangelists in Arabia keep propping up this lie.

Speaking as someone who abandoned the whole muslim lifestyle schtick a decade ago.

@Not_Soos I mean, that's good and all, but I still don't want some rich fatcat or his government buying up huge stakes in entertainment companies.

Also understand that interviews like the one you mentioned are PR opportunities. It's a very common tactic to "sportswash" your image this way.

@martynstuff Wow, you sure were quick on the draw to explain everything. Hopefully everyone sees it too…

Sure. To distract the world from the "friendly way" they execute gay people, journalists and women accused of apostasy and adultery, etc etc. Culture washing by these oppressive regimes is disgusting.

I don't care who owns what as long as the content remains enjoyable.

First comment here. Aside from the Saudis anyone can own stock in NTDOY. I have a ton of shares (not as much as the Saudi Public Investment). I recommend Nintendo fans to own shares in their favorite company, it pays divs too!

Ugh. I didn’t know this, hugely disappointing to read. Horrendous regime guilty of horrendous crimes.

Yeah… no. Keep that evil organization away from anything good and decent in this world, please.

@Not_Soos

"...various "human rights violations" committed by the Saudi government, but does that apply to the crown prince as well? I watched an interview with him from a year or two ago, and he seemed like a pretty chill guy."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Jamal_Khashoggi

definitely not a chill guy ✌️

Still better than Sweet Baby Inc.

I am sure that they will not do anything to the gaming industry. They just want a good return on their investments. Money is money.

Apparently observing the fact that saudi does not enjoying DEI is inappropriate, really need to take that up with them, not me, dont shoot the messenger.

@Damo, SNK is owned by the prince’s MiSK Foundation, not the national fund.

@HydroTendonMan @RojoDelMal @ottoecamn @HeadPirate @LavenderShroud @JohnnyMind
Thank you. That's very nice of you all to say! 😊

@Not_Soos

You've already been corrected about a dozen times, so I just wanted to add an important fact that seems to be overlooked in a lot of the replies.

Mohammed bin Salman is an absolute despot. There is no separation between him and the state. Every aspect of life, every law and every policy is the way it is because he made it so. There is no system of opposition. There are no checks and balances. There is no "other voice". If he was a chill guy, he could simply wave his hand and remove every oppressive law, grant protections to any and all minority groups, and as a bonus use around 3% of his net worth to end poverty in not only his country, but every surrounding nation.

It's important to look at things in context. This isn't a like a president or prime minister who maybe wants better for their people but lacks the power to make meaningful change. This is an absolute authority with near unlimited power.

@martynstuff

Great post.

Leaves a seriously bad taste in the mouth but as you say Nintendo are limited in what they can do to stop it.

@ottoecamn Well, it is good to hear that they ban BlackRock from investing in them. They just need to do the same with The Vanguard Group (which I believe already invests in Nintendo). Those two shareholders, in my experience, seem to force companies that they invest in to maximize profits by cutting costs, which results in mediocre (at best) products and services.

I used to work for Kroger, and they were two of the largest shareholders in the business. Any attempts to suggest new ideas to improve quality were shot down because it would have cost money (which would have meant less profits and dividends for the shareholders). And look at what has been happening with Boeing in recent years. Vanguard and BlackRock are both two of the largest shareholders in that company, as well. Even Microsoft is under their thrall, and they have been laying off people left and right.

So it says to me that there is a common denominator here with all these layoffs and decreases in quality of goods and services, and that is The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, Inc. Nintendo is wise to keep BlackRock from investing, but they need to go a step further and force Vanguard to divest if they truly want to maintain control over the quality of their games and systems.

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