Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
1–10 of 289 posts
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#2Doesn't it matter which Saudi's money it is?
I mean shouldn't a distinction be made between the government, the zealots, private investors, citizens and so on?
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#3If the CIA, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia all fund startups, would the conflicting interests then cancel each other out?
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#4They bought Twitter specifically because of twiiters role in the Arab spring so they could prevent the revolutionary fever spread to Saudi Arabia.
It worked.
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#5The tech industry has, historically and in aggregate, had pretty solid rates of returns. If I was sitting on a dwindling store of natural resources as my primary store of wealth, I would probably want to try to diversify that wealth into other areas and grow that wealth aggressively while my potentially limited income source is still highly profitable.
I'm not sure that more nefarious aims need to be posited than simple avarice.
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#6Doesn't it matter which Saudi's money it is? I mean shouldn't a distinction be made between the government, the zealots, private investors, citizens and so on?
>The money from regimes that have been criticized for their human rights records — from Saudi Arabia’s government in particular, which has plans to funnel potentially hundreds of billions of dollars into tech companies through its state-controlled Public Investment Fund
Lots of sovereign wealth fund cash, also people within the monarchy with money to throw around.
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#7Same reason they invest in Fox News—aim the weapon at your enemy, like Iran. It’s no coincidence the media is always screaming about Iran, who is actually more moderate than our supposed ally Saudi Arabia. It’s a way to buy themselves a free pass from criticism.
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#8Because it's a good investment, and Saudi Arabia is desperate to diversify their money before all the oil dries up.
Why is this complicated?
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#9Doesn't it matter which Saudi's money it is? I mean shouldn't a distinction be made between the government, the zealots, private investors, citizens and so on?
>The money from regimes that have been criticized for their human rights records — from Saudi Arabia’s government in particular, which has plans to funnel potentially hundreds of billions of dollars into tech companies through its state-controlled Public Investment Fund Lots of sovereign wealth fund cash, also people within the monarchy with money to throw around.
>The money from regimes that have been criticized for their human rights records
TBF the US well and truly falls into that category too.
Re: Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why
#10The tech industry has, historically and in aggregate, had pretty solid rates of returns. If I was sitting on a dwindling store of natural resources as my primary store of wealth, I would probably want to try to diversify that wealth into other areas and grow that wealth aggressively while my potentially limited income source is still highly profitable. I'm not sure that more nefarious aims need to be posited than sim…
Even if it isn’t nefarious, maybe we still shouldn’t let them profit off our liberal democracy while they exploit their own citizens, enslave foreigners, fund terrorism, and abuse women. Maybe we shouldn’t let them have their cake and eat it too. Make them pick between human rights and investing in the S&P500.