Why Saudi Arabia Is Suddenly Buying Billions in U.S. Tech Stocks

Situated in the financial center of Riyadh, the offices of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund are encircled by glass buildings that appear to glitter in the desert sun. Inside, spreadsheets light on

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has shifted its U.S. equity portfolio in a way that market watchers describe as deliberate choreography. Recent filings show the PIF still holds roughly $23.8 billion in U.S. stocks even as it rebalanced positions in household-name technology companies. The fund — run by CEO Yasir Al‑Rumayyan and based in the financial district of Riyadh — manages total assets estimated at approximately $925 billion–$1 trillion and has a history of high‑profile bets including Uber and Lucid Motors as part of its Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda.

"Time is being bought," the Fortune Herald reported, summarizing the tenor of the shift as Saudi capital seeks proximity to “the businesses creating” tomorrow’s economy.

What the filings and recent activity reveal

  • Public Investment Fund adjustments included stakes in well‑known U.S. technology names such as Shopify, PayPal and Meta, according to the report’s reading of recent filings.
  • The PIF’s total exposure to U.S. equities remains high at about $23.8 billion (latest filing cited by the report), even as it reportedly sold or reduced positions in some companies.
  • Earlier strategic bets highlighted by the report include early investments in Uber and in Lucid Motors, signaling a pattern of backing companies tied to shifts in daily life and mobility.
  • The report suggests a sectoral pivot toward chipmakers, infrastructure firms and artificial intelligence — areas described as driving the “next wave” — even though those moves are not itemized in the filings it cites.
  • Public events and deals in recent months, at which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke, produced agreements described in the report as “totaling hundreds of billions” in manufacturing, defence and artificial intelligence cooperation and investment.

Fortune Herald frames the rebalancing as more than portfolio housekeeping. The PIF’s activity follows years in which Saudi capital targeted growth platforms early — for example, backing ride‑hailing and electric vehicle bets before they were mainstream — and now appears to be refining those stakes. The report notes departures from legacy internet economy winners, citing the PIF’s exit from Meta after “years of turbulence” and reassessments of companies such as PayPal and Shopify as competitive dynamics shift.

Outlook

The report casts the PIF’s moves as part opportunistic and part strategic hedging as global demand moves toward digitisation, renewables and electrification. With U.S. tech stocks buoyed again by excitement around artificial intelligence, the PIF faces the classic sovereign‑fund dilemma: balance the desire to participate in a rally against the need to buy proximity to specific technologies and industrial capacity. Fortune Herald concludes that while Saudi capital is clearly active in the U.S. tech ecosystem, the ultimate aim — and whether current timing will prove prescient — remains uncertain: sovereign funds, the report notes, “lack crystal balls.”