PIF went from being largely domestic-focused to significantly broadening its horizons in 2015, when it was placed under the direction of a newly formed Council of Economic and Development Affairs, with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman named as PIF’s chairman.
Developments since have been dizzying. PIF’s entry into the world of sport hasn’t been confined to football; arguably its most headline-grabbing move has been the establishment of the LIV Golf tour, a competitor to the established PGA Tour. PIF has invested £3.66bn in LIV since its formation in October 2021. PIF also has in place a multi-year strategic partnership with tennis’ ATP.
The blurred lines of private and state ownership make it difficult to put a clear number on things, but a report issued by Play The Game in December 2024 laid bare the extent of the fund’s involvement in sport. The report found 346 separate examples of PIF or its subsidiaries having a hand in sport sponsorship over recent years. Ninety of those instances were in football, but in all, it covered 23 other sports; eSports, golf and boxing were the other leading lights.
Away from sports, as the sovereign wealth fund of a Gulf state, PIF holds an array of diverse interests across multiple borders. When it comes to holdings in publicly traded U.S. companies alone, at the end of March 2025, PIF held stakes across 64 entities with a combined portfolio value of $26.6bn. The three largest stakes, by value, were in ride-hailing firm Uber ($5.3bn), Lucid Group, an electric vehicle company ($4.3bn) and Electronic Arts (EA), the video games giant ($3.6bn).
PIF was involved, in 2017, in setting up the SoftBank Vision Fund, one of the world’s largest technology investment funds. Other technological investments like Humain, an AI business launched three months ago, have followed. The EA stake is complemented by others in the gaming industry, like Nintendo. Separately, last December, PIF completed a 15 per cent purchase of shares in the holding company overseeing Heathrow Airport.
At home in Saudi Arabia, PIF is involved in giga-projects like those at NEOM, Qiddiya and Red Sea Global, and has ties to countless domestic companies. Those include Saudi Aramco, Saudi Telecom, Saudi National Bank and Roshn. Sela, Newcastle’s front-of-shirt sponsor, and Savvy Games Group, who partnered with the club’s pre-season tour to Japan last year, are both PIF-owned. The list of the fund’s interests, both at home and abroad, goes on far longer than anything mustered here.
Separate from PIF, Jamie Reuben is a principal at family firm Reuben Brothers, set up by David and Simon. Jamie’s existing UK directorships include 5 Hertford Street Limited, a Reuben Brothers-owned private members’ club in Mayfair, Siren Capital London Limited, a management consultancy, and Reuben Foundation, the family’s charitable arm.
RB Sports & Media, owned by Jamie but ultimately via OBH by David and Simon, also owns Arena Racing Company, a British horse and greyhound racing group, and last year took up a stake in EDGLRD, a digital IP-based studio in the U.S.. More broadly, Reuben Brothers holds an array of investments and interests across multiple sectors, including shipping, aviation and credit financing.
