Latest news with #Al-Rumayyan
Saudi Gazette
19-05-2025
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
PIF chief calls for ecosystem mindset among directors at second Directors' Gathering
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Public Investment Fund (PIF) Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan called on directors to treat PIF and its 220 portfolio companies as a single, integrated ecosystem, during the second edition of the PIF Directors' Gathering held Monday in Riyadh. Bringing together over 1,000 directors and executives from Saudi Arabia and abroad, the forum aimed to align strategic priorities and foster collaboration across the PIF network. Al-Rumayyan emphasized that cooperation among the portfolio companies should be considered a key measure of success. The event focused on optimizing board performance and enhancing synergies across PIF's portfolio — which includes 103 companies established directly by the sovereign fund. Discussions centered on redefining board impact amid national transformation, strengthening oversight in a changing risk environment, and addressing the governance challenges posed by AI and emerging technologies. Al-Rumayyan outlined three main board responsibilities: setting strategy, ensuring governance frameworks for management, and performance monitoring. He stressed that embracing these roles collectively can help transform macroeconomic challenges into leadership and growth opportunities. The gathering is part of PIF's broader corporate excellence strategy, including the work of its Center for Governance, established in 2020. The center offers development programs, advisory services, and thought leadership to support effective governance across both PIF-owned entities and the wider Saudi private sector. The fund's governance framework promotes merit-based hiring, accountability, and board-management clarity. It also aims to position Saudi Arabia as a global business destination and innovation hub. Since its launch in 2023, the PIF Directors' Gathering has served as a platform for enhancing boardroom excellence and aligning long-term objectives across the Kingdom's investment landscape.
Saudi Gazette
18-05-2025
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
PIF chief warns Europe over 'outrageous' sustainability rules
Saudi Gazette report TIRANA, Albania — The Governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayyan, called the EU's upcoming sustainability regulations 'outrageous' and cited a regulatory decision in Switzerland that impacted PIF's investment in Credit Suisse as a major warning sign for future investment. Speaking at the FII Priority Summit in Tirana on Saturday, Al-Rumayyan warned that the European Union's sustainability rules — which include more than 1,000 compliance metrics — are creating an environment of risk and uncertainty for global investors. He cautioned that the new regulations, set to take effect in 2028 after a two-year delay, could lead to disinvestment from the region. 'The regulation is saying if you're not compliant, you will be penalized not only for your operation in Europe, but you will be penalized on the parent company — 5% of your top line,' he said. 'This is really outrageous for a lot of investors.' He criticized the scope and retroactive nature of the rules, arguing that the lack of predictability is the 'biggest single inhibitor' to both public and private sector financing in suggested that such regulatory frameworks might push businesses to relocate operations outside the a specific case, he pointed to PIF's investment in Credit Suisse, where a sudden change in Swiss regulations effectively wiped out the fund's position.'We owned about 5% of Credit Suisse. Overnight, the Swiss regulator changed the law — 150 years of rule of law was changed overnight. And they wiped out all investors,' he said. 'This is a big red flag.'He added that such abrupt regulatory shifts undermine investor confidence and damage Europe's reputation as a stable destination for the criticisms, Al-Rumayyan emphasized PIF's deep engagement with Europe over the past seven years. Since 2017, the fund has deployed $85 billion in investments and procurement across the EU, with plans to increase that figure to $170 billion by 2030.'Our impact on EU GDP currently stands at $52 billion,' he said. 'By 2030, this will grow to $105 billion. Through these investments, we've created about 254,000 direct and indirect jobs.'He concluded with a call for European leaders to foster a more stable and welcoming business environment.'We want to continue investing here. But we need clarity. We need consistency. The way forward is to pave the way for investors and businesses to come in, grow, and maintain their current investments.'
USA Today
11-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: The Saudi golf boss showed up at the Masters. Most of his players haven't
Lynch: The Saudi golf boss showed up at the Masters. Most of his players haven't AUGUSTA, Ga. – Golf executives weary of negotiating with the unyielding Yasir Al-Rumayyan can draw comfort from his appearance Friday at the Masters, if only because the head of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund came to the iconic meeting place beneath the oak tree at Augusta National's clubhouse rather than insist the tree be brought to him. His presence meant that LIV had as many executives on site as players near the top of the leaderboard, its new CEO Scott O'Neil having spent a couple of days in the company of the usual habitués of the trough. It was all enough to inspire one wag to repurpose Verne Lundquist's legendary call: 'Yas ... Sir!' The diminutive PIF bagman was clad in a sharp business suit, not having yet been granted a jacket in the Pantone 342 shade of green that he reputedly aspires to. Since most patrons lingering by the clubhouse are accustomed to vast wealth and untrammeled power, Al-Rumayyan passed largely unnoticed. He had neither security detail nor retinue, his only employees at hand otherwise engaged trying to make the cut. He chatted amiably with an Augusta National member before retreating upstairs to sit with Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state who was national security advisor at the time of the September 11 attacks, which ample evidence suggests bore the fingerprints of the Saudi government. Earlier in the day, Al-Rumayyan met with Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, according to multiple sources. 'I'm sure this will solve all the problems,' one golf executive wryly noted while standing by the clubhouse, his cynicism owing to extensive business experience with the PIF head and his apparatchiks. Ridley invited Al-Rumayyan to attend the Masters, presumably as a goodwill gesture to encourage a rapprochement between LIV and the PGA Tour, but since the chairman isn't in the habit of discussing his correspondence, it's unclear when the welcome was extended. It could have pre-dated the February 2o meeting at the White House during which prospects of a settlement soured, or it may have come in the aftermath, a Hail Mary bid to resurrect things. Whether being greeted as a notable at the National is sufficient to soften Al-Rumayyan's stance on deal terms remains to be seen, but even the most optimistic types seem either pessimistic about a deal being reached or increasingly convinced one is not needed. Informed expectations lean toward talks reaching a conclusion rather than a solution, but with billions of dollars at stake, even the most reticent can be persuaded to pucker up if Al-Rumayyan decides that a little humility could help make that Masters badge a regular perk. While the boss hobnobbed atop the hill, his hostages — or, if you prefer, the players he recruited — were enjoying mixed results beneath him. Only Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton were within striking distance of the lead as Friday afternoon wore on. Patrick Reed, so often distracted by litigious pursuits, was under par, as were Joaquin Niemann and Bubba Watson. Others were riding the edge of the cut line, like Dustin Johnson, who finished bogey-double bogey. Sergio Garcia was a stroke farther away from the weekend, while Brooks Koepka sealed his fate with a quadruple bogey eight on the final hole. Jon Rahm is 17-for-17 in finishing inside the top 10 in LIV events, but his second-round 71 has him tied for 50th, with 50th and ties making the weekend. He won here in 2023 and jumped to the Saudi-funded circuit eight months later. After playing poorly in 2024's majors, he's eager to dispel the notion that he's a worse golfer on LIV than he was on the PGA Tour. His play thus far has done little to aid that cause. In having to defend his own competitiveness, Rahm is forced to also defend the competitive merits of the tour he's paid to play. That adds a layer of complication he and his colleagues could do without during a major. Twelve golfers began this week with the unspoken understanding that they're playing to promote the credibility of their circuit — well, 11, since Koepka typically declines to play the finger puppet. The other 83 men in the field had no such caveat to carry. Some of those golfers have become demonstrably worse since they joined LIV, but does that really owe to the source of the paycheck? Or the ease with which it is earned? There are other possible factors for their underperforming in majors recently. They're getting older. They don't work as hard. They've put too many miles on the clock this year with stops in Riyadh, Adelaide, Singapore, Hong Kong and Miami before Augusta. Many of them have played only 15 tournament rounds this year, and three of those were at night under lights. DeChambeau and Hatton were already considered the most relevant of LIV's contingent, so their performances come as no surprise, and are no succor for defenders of LIV's competitive worthiness. As the second round of the 89th Masters wound down, Al-Rumayyan looked a lot more comfortable with his position at Augusta National than did his players. But then, wasn't that always the endgame?
New York Times
05-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Family's Cash Registers Ring as Financial Meltdown Plays Out
The financial market meltdown was underway when President Trump boarded Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday for a doubleheader of sorts: a Saudi-backed golf tournament at his family's Miami resort and a weekend of fund-raisers attracting hundreds of donors to his Palm Beach club. It was a fresh reminder that in his second term, Mr. Trump has continued to find ways to drive business to his family-owned real-estate ventures, a practice he has sustained even when his work in Washington has caused worldwide financial turmoil. The Trump family monetization weekend started Thursday night, as crowds began to form at both the Trump National Doral resort near Miami International Airport, and separately at his Mar-a-Lago resort 70 miles up the coast. Mr. Trump landed on the edge of one of the golf courses in a military helicopter — just in time for a dinner at Doral. The next day, LIV Golf, the breakaway professional league backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, was scheduled to hold a tournament at the course for the fourth time. On Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, hundreds of guests gathered for the American Patriots Gala, a conservative fund-raiser that featured Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Javier Milei of Argentina, who told his supporters back home that he was hoping to catch up with Mr. Trump while there, unaware that Mr. Trump was double-booked at two of his family properties that night. And that was just the weekend's lead-up. Mr. Trump ordered a new set of global tariffs on Wednesday from the White House using his trademark Sharpie pen, a version of which is on sale at Mar-a-Lago for $3. The announcement set off one of the largest market crashes in American history, erasing $5 trillion in market value from companies in the S&P 500 in just two days. Mr. Trump has said his policy would reverse what he calls unfair trade practices, and that eventually the 'markets are going to boom.' On Friday, as markets continued to tumble, thousands of golf fans visited Doral, as did Eric Trump, Mr. Trump's son, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia's $925 billion sovereign wealth fund. Mr. Al-Rumayyan is also the chairman of LIV Golf, and was there to see its stars compete. 'It is a nice club,' Mr. Al-Rumayyan said as he walked around the golf course watching the players tee off. LIV Golf — a venture intended to lift the Saudi profile worldwide even as it has burned through hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds — is styled as a daylong party, with club music pumping out of speakers lining tournament courses and machines dispensing wine and large beers. On Friday, fans watched a bit of golf and danced on the edges of the course. Others in MAGA hats walked around smoking cigars. In short, the economic turbulence seemed far away. 'You are all looking a little too stiff!' said Matt Rogers, a LIV Golf announcer, as he yelled into a microphone, blasting his message across the greens as the first group of golfers on Friday prepared to play with dance music blaring in the background. 'You need to turn this up! This is LIV Golf.' Every room at the 643-room Trump Doral, including the $13,000-a-night presidential suite, was sold out through the weekend. Not a seat could be found at the BLT Prime steakhouse bar, where a porterhouse steak cost $130. 'This is the perfect venue,' Eric Trump said as he strolled the golf course Friday. He had driven his father in a golf cart from the military helicopter to the resort dinner the day before, as the festivities over the big moneymaking weekend were getting underway. The president spent much of Friday at yet another Trump family venue, Trump International Golf Club, not far from Mar-a-Lago, sending out social media messages during the day, including, 'THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE.' By Friday night, the center of attention had shifted back to Mar-a-Lago, as Mr. Trump held another in a series of $1 million-a-head dinners at his private club in Palm Beach. Since he was elected in November, Mr. Trump has hosted at least four of the fund-raisers, including one in December, two in March and the one Friday night, with a fifth planned for April 24. The fund-raisers unfold in similar ways, according to people who have attended them. Roughly 20 people gather around a candlelit table with big white flowers in the club's 'White and Gold Room' after a photo session. Mr. Trump speaks, then listens to the guests discuss their businesses, one by one. In just an hour or two, he can raise as much as $20 million — a great return on his time investment, associates say. Attendees at some of the post-election dinners at Mar-a-Lago hosted by MAGA Inc., one of Mr. Trump's fund-raising political action committees, have included the casino owner Miriam Adelson, the sugar magnate Pepe Fanjul and a top executive from Lockheed Martin, the world's largest military contractor, along with representatives from the cryptocurrency and energy industries. The dinners have been just the start. Mar-a-Lago remains a popular site for Republican candidates to host their own fund-raisers, Federal Election Commission records show. It is not clear to some Republicans why Mr. Trump has been raising money so aggressively, according to eight people involved in conservative fund-raising who have kept track of his Mr. Trump's efforts. Never before has a president ineligible for re-election vacuumed up so much money for a super PAC. Some of Mr. Trump's associates believe it is prudent to take the money when it is available, as corporate interests and others seek to get access to the president or make amends for perceived slights, people close to him acknowledge. The packed agendas at the two Trump venues recalled the constant buzz and spending by lobbyists, members of Congress and foreign leaders at Trump International Hotel in Washington before the Trump family sold its lease after Mr. Trump's first term. In addition to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, top sponsors of the Doral golf tournament included Aramco, the Saudi oil company, and Riyadh Air, the airline owned by the sovereign wealth fund, according to a large billboard outside one of the event's party tents. Mr. Trump's merchandise shops — there are at least three of them at Doral — were also doing swift business, selling everything from a $550 Trump-branded crystal-studded purse to $18 Doral-branded paperweights made in China. The store clerk said that he did not know if new tariffs on imported products would mean price increases. Fans in the crowd said that they had traveled from as far as South Africa to attend the event. Some purchased special tickets that cost as much as $1,400 to enter exclusive party areas with free drinks and food — tickets that were sold out as of Saturday. In interviews, tournament attendees said that they did not mind the disconnect between the Wall Street meltdown and the party at the Trump family's resort. 'The sky is falling every day,' said Mike Atwell, a Key Largo, Fla., restaurant owner who was there with his wife enjoying lunch and drinks. 'When you are happy, you drink. When you are sad, you drink. It all works out.' On Saturday, as the tournament continued at Doral, Mr. Trump showed up at yet another family golf course, in Jupiter, Fla., which is holding its own, more modest tournament. Good news was announced by the White House staff: 'The president won his second round matchup of the senior club championship today in Jupiter, Fla., and advances to the championship round on Sunday.' Reporters and photographers were prohibited from watching him play, and were held down the street at a coffee shop. As Mr. Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago, one of his political committees sent out an offer to his followers: They could buy a signed replica of his executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The minimum contribution was $50. 'I want you to have a PIECE OF HISTORY in your home,' Mr. Trump said in the solicitation. The White House then announced that there would be no more public events on Saturday.
Telegraph
04-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Golf's truce is a sham – LIV is happy to go it alone, Trump-style
Perhaps it was appropriate that, a day after President Trump announced his extraordinary tariff revolution, LIV Golf enthusiastically greeted him to this Doral resort that he owns and that, this weekend, will host the latest $25 million event. Trump landed in his Marine One helicopter on a helipad by the ninth fairway on Thursday evening and the mood in the air was palpably that of belligerence as significant figures on the breakaway league extolled their own idea of isolationism and going it on their own. If this is the week for the big statement, then LIV Golf is determined to prove that it has the potential to be an historic triumph if and when the mooted deal with the PGA Tour is finally called off. And at this point, the negotiations do appear to be in tatters. Six weeks ago, Trump hosted PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund and LIV chairman, at the White House in what, on a wave of optimism, were billed as breakthrough talks in the mottled merger. However, it has since become an open secret that the only thing that almost broke was the door of the Oval Office, as Al-Rumayyan exited feeling angry and insulted. In the assessment of the respective assets, the PGA Tour informed the Saudis it valued LIV at $500million and, as the Saudis have already ploughed in an estimated $5billion into Al-Rumayyan's pet project, that sense of offence was maybe inevitable. Furthermore, while the PGA Tour might be considering incorporating four LIV tournaments into a redrawn schedule, Al-Rumayyan expects a show. 'He wants 14 LIV events, with 13 teams, just as there are this year,' one prominent source told Telegraph Sport. 'Since the row at the White House, he has sent a letter to the Tour demanding exactly that and they have come back with a resounding refusal. So that's it. Yasir will not back down – he will probably double down, pumping in even more investment and playing the long game. It is back to square one. LIV versus the rest.' Nobody is declaring this publicly here at the stage for LIV's first US event of 2025, after visits to Riyadh, Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore. Instead, Scott O'Neil, the new LIV chief executive following the departure of Greg Norman, has asked the pros to adopt a less combative approach. 'We have to be good partners in the game of golf,' he told reporters in the enormous clubhouse here on Wednesday. 'And we have to continue to show grace. I've talked to the players quite a bit about this… all that stuff matters, especially in a game as traditionally rich as golf..' O'Neil calls it 'a dramatic shift' in attitude and this personality overhaul has already earned the American an official invite to next week's Masters, a vote of credibility that Norman famously failed to garner in his controversial three years at the helm. (Indeed, to get through the Augusta gates to 'cheer on my guys' last year, the Australian was forced to buy a general admission ticket from the touts.) LIV is at the table and, understandably, that internally is being portrayed as a positive. 'They have welcomed me with open arms,' O'Neil said. Yet that does not mean peace is any but. That ill-tempered meeting on February 20 has raised the tensions and the hackles have followed suit, with recrimination back in play. On Thursday, LIV staged an 'influencer event', with popular YouTubers doing battle over nine holes on the layout known as 'the Blue Monster'. It was an unashamed copy of 'the Creators Classic' held before the Players Championship at Sawgrass last month and featured many of the same internet celebrities. The PGA Tour was not happy and dispatched memos to the likes of 'Fat Perez' and 'The Bryan Bros', warning that they could pick up bans on the US circuit. Presumably realising how pathetic this would look, the threat was dropped, but the resumption of hostilities was surely telling. The ceasefire is over. The truce is a sham. O'Neil is not directly involved in the negotiations, but Al-Rumayyan is keeping him in the loop and his comments also indicated the willingness to move forward without the Tour's patronage. 'Do we have to do a deal? No,' O'Neil said. 'Would it be nice to do a deal? So long as we're all focused on the same thing, which is growing the game of golf. This is not my deal. I hope all goes well and does what's best for golf. If that's a deal, great. If it's not a deal, great. We're in pretty good stead.' O'Neil's optimism is in marked contrast to the US media's perception of the strides, or otherwise, made by the upstart circuit in its four years. The pessimism has even seeped into the circus itself, with five-time major champion Brooks Koepka breaking cover. 'I think Scott's a great guy and he can lead LIV to where it needs to be, or where it should be because we are behind, to be quite fair,' he said. When asked to expand, Koepka replied: 'Behind where we should be. From bringing sponsors in to hitting the international market and the US market. It [the new TV deal] definitely helps, but we need to take that and expand it and grow it.' That deal with Fox was heralded as hugely notable. It was always one of Norman's primary aims to sign with one of the main US TV stations and, after spending the formational years in the broadcasting shadows, LIV was finally legitimate. It long claimed it could take on the PGA Tour at its own game, but this time it could fight on the same remote control. However, the figures have been poor over the opening quartet of events and the headlines have been predictably negative. This has annoyed O'Neil. 'Some of the news was disappointing for me to read,' O'Neil said. 'See where we were playing and the time differences. It was 2am in the morning here in the US. Look, I have no problem being judged – but not on that. Judge me this week, for sure.' On Sunday, LIV will be on the main Fox channel, at the same time as the PGA Tour event in San Antonio is on NBC. They always wanted a level playing field and this is it. And with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler resting before Augusta, the Texas Open is hardly a parade of superstars; by contrast, LIV boasts names such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Koepka, so there really should be only one winner in the ratings. Yet the PGA Tour is established and LIV and its team concept have not gained the traction anticipated. 'If we get the same viewing figures as the Tour on Sunday it would be a massive success,' an insider said. 'But even if we get half, say 700,000 viewers, that would give us something to cling on to. Otherwise there will be more queries about our future, particularly with some of the player contracts being up next year.' That last point is another question mark flashing over LIV and its hereafter. Will Koepka and co expect the same nine-figured up-front payments to stay or will one or more seek what would be a symbolic switch back to the PGA Tour? O'Neil dismissed this concern, talking of his 'confidence that we'll have the right field here for a really long time'. Yet as to the ratings, O'Neil will be all eyes as he weighs up changes to the product that may or may not be necessary. 'I know what the future looks like for LIV,' he said. 'It looks like Adelaide [the LIV event that attracts crowds of more than 100,000] in 14 markets. And it looks like our players are welcome, and there's more outlets for them in the majors. It looks like the Formula One of golf and as far as TV audiences go, we got 2.5 million for the Riyadh event and, like F1, we are a global sports league. 'But is this weekend important? Of course it is. This one is important in the US. Are my expectations high? They always are. But if the ratings don't hit my expectations, am I going to cry in my suit? I'm not. I really believe in what we're doing. I think we're heading in the right direction. You know, it's been a really nice, pleasant surprise how far we have moved the needle in three months. I've never seen any kind of pace like this before in my life.' Hyperbole, maybe, but there can be no doubt that Trump would be impressed. Especially now, in these of all times. The President was whisked off to the Trump Grand Ballroom for the Gala LIV Dinner and there would have been no shortage of discussion on the top table. Tariffs and Tours and all that. Norman's LIV replacement given 'all access' invite to Masters Greg Norman was famously kept out in the cold by the Masters in his controversial spell as the LIV chief executive and was even forced last year to buy a ticket from the touts to watch his players. But now that the Australian has left the position, the green jackets have notably softened their stance and sent an official 'all access' invite to his predecessor. Scott O'Neil's presence under the tree outside the Augusta National clubhouse is set to be a symbolic moment. The movers and shakers of the game gather at 'the Big Oak Tree' during the season's first major and the fact the LIV supremo will be allowed to mingle with the powerbrokers shows how much tensions have thawed, with negotiations ongoing for a peace deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi funders of the breakaway league. 'I've been welcomed with open arms,' O'Neil said here at Trump National Doral, where the latest $25 million LIV event begins on Friday. 'I've only been here in the role for 90 days, but I text all of them [the figures that run the four majors] pretty regularly. I've done so multiple times.' There are 12 LIV pros in the Masters field, down from 18 two years ago and 13 in 2024. Unlike the US Open and Open, Augusta has so far resisted handing LIV spots directly from its money list and is not expected to change its qualification process for next year, either. Norman was notoriously combative when demanding that his players be given a pathway to the majors, but O'Neil is purposefully remaining humble. 'I feel like we have to continue to show up and be good partners in the game of golf,' he said. 'And we have to continue to show grace. Sometimes we may be held to a different standard, but that's OK. I've talked to the players quite a bit about this… all that stuff matters, especially in a game as traditionally rich as golf. And hopefully, you've noticed in the last three months there's been a dramatic shift.'
