Saudi Arabian wealth fund spends billions on video game stocks

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia acquired shares worth a total of almost $3.3 billion in gaming developers Activision Blizzard Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. by the end of 2020, according to an SEC filing.

Sovereign wealth fund PIF bought about 14,964,119 shares in Activision Blizzard for about $1.39 billion, about 7,420,184 of Electronic Arts shares for about $1.07 billion, and about 3,972,984 Take-Two shares for about $825.5 million.

The Saudi Arabian government, which owns PIF, has increased digital investments to diversify the country's economy, in line with its Vision 2030 program. In June 2020, the fund spent almost $1.5 billion to acquire a stake in Jio Platforms Ltd., the technology arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd.

PIF also acquired 1,481,837 shares in human resource management software provider Automatic Data Processing Inc. for $261.1 million, as well as 12,565,167 shares in concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for about $923.3 million. The Live Nation shares are equivalent to a 5.8% stake, a separate SEC filing said.