Yasir Al-Rumayyan

Yasir Al-Rumayyan (Arabic: ياسر الرميان‎) is a Saudi business personality who is Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Chairman of Saudi Aramco. He also sits on the boards of the transportation network company Uber Technologies Inc. and the Japanese multinational SoftBank Group.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan
Born (1970-02-18) February 18, 1970
TitleGovernor of Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of Board of the Saudi Aramco
Board member ofSaudi Aramco, Uber Technologies Inc., SoftBank Group

Early life and career

Yasir Al-Rumayyan was born in 1970 and graduated from King Faisal University in Alahsa in 1993, later completing a general management program at Harvard Business School.[1]

He began his career at Saudi Hollandi Bank, becoming head of international brokerage before joining the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), where he was head of securities listings.[2][3]

Between 2011 and 2015, Al-Rumayyan was CEO of Saudi Fransi Capital (SFC), the investment banking arm of Banque Saudi Fransi.[1][4] During his tenure, SFC moved into online trading and signed a cooperation agreement with the US investment firm BlackRock.[5][6] From 2014 to 2015 he also served on the board of directors of the Saudi Stock Exchange.[4]

Public Investment Fund and other positions

In September 2015, Al-Rumayyan was appointed managing director of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, with a mandate to seek international investments with the potential for knowledge and technology transfer to the Saudi economy.[7][8]

In June 2016, PIF invested $3.5 billion in the US-based Uber Technologies Inc. In a statement on the deal, Al-Rumayyan cited the importance of increased urban mobility and local employment in support of the Saudi Vision 2030 economic reform program.[9] He joined Uber's board of directors as part of the agreement.[10]

In August 2016, Al-Rumayyan joined the board of the state oil company Saudi Aramco as part of a move toward closer cooperation between Aramco and PIF in restructuring the Saudi economy.[11] In October that year, PIF under Al-Rumayyan invested $45 billion in the newly established SoftBank Vision Fund, a technology-focused investment vehicle.[12] A further overseas investment by PIF followed in May 2017 with a $20 billion contribution to a joint US infrastructure fund with Blackstone.[13]

In October 2017, Al-Rumayyan announced that PIF would aim to increase its assets under management to more than $400 billion and create more than 20,000 new jobs by 2020.[14][13] At the same time he presented a new investment strategy for the fund, based on four objectives of maximizing assets, investing in new sectors, localizing technologies, and developing economic partnerships.[14] He also said PIF would borrow conservatively to finance specific assets and would seek further partnerships such as those with Blackstone and SoftBank.[7][15]

In September 2018, Al-Rumayyan announced PIF's first step in incorporating loans and debt instruments into its long term strategy, with an $11 billion loan facility.[16] The following month he said the fund would aim to increase the percentage of international assets in its portfolio from 10% to 50% by 2030.[17]

At the Milken Institute in Abu Dhabi in February 2019, Al-Rumayyan announced that PIF would open new offices in London, New York and San Francisco, and would increase its workforce from 450 to 700 by the end of 2019.[18][19] He also said the fund would invest in renewable energy projects in Saudi Arabia, including the local manufacture of solar panels.[18]

References
  1. "FaceOf: Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of the Saudi Public Investment Fund". Arab News. 9 May 2018.
  2. "All transactions go". The Business Year. June 2014.
  3. David French (6 March 2014). "Banque Saudi Fransi loses key equity banker to Jadwa Investment". Reuters.
  4. "MOVES-CEO of Saudi Fransi Capital resigns - source". Reuters.
  5. "Saudi Fransi in e-trading services deal". Trade Arabia. 29 June 2011.
  6. "Saudi Fransi to offer BlackRock products". Reuters. 30 June 2013.
  7. Andrew Torchia (25 October 2017). "Huge Saudi fund to be conservative borrower, chief says". Reuters.
  8. "KSA keen on overseas buying with potential for knowledge transfer". Saudi Gazette. 28 October 2015.
  9. Alex Konrad (1 June 2016). "Uber Raises $3.5 Billion From Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, Keeps $62.5 Billion Valuation". Forbes.
  10. "Saudi signals new investment strategies in $3.5 bln Uber deal". Reuters. 2 June 2016.
  11. "Saudi Aramco appoints chief of sovereign wealth fund to board". Reuters. 10 August 2016.
  12. Margherita Stancati; Mayumi Negishi; Nicolas Parasie (20 May 2017). "SoftBank, Saudis Launch $100 Billion Tech Fund". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. "Saudi's PIF commits $20 bln to $40 billion fund with Blackstone". Reuters. 24 October 2017.
  14. Deirdre Hipwell (26 October 2017). "Saudi Arabia to raise size of state wealth fund to $400bn". The Times.
  15. Erik Schatzker; Matthew Martin; Arif Sharif (24 October 2017). "Saudi Wealth Fund Plans to Borrow to Double Investment Returns". Bloomberg News.
  16. "Saudi Arabia's PIF raises $11bn through maiden syndicated loan facility". The National. 17 September 2018.
  17. "Saudi Public Investment Fund invested in 50-60 firms via SoftBank fund". Al Arabiya. 23 October 2018.
  18. Dania Saadi (13 February 2019). "PIF to open offices abroad as it seeks to boost foreign investments". The National.
  19. Matthew Martin (13 February 2019). "Saudi Wealth Fund Plans San Francisco Office". Bloomberg News.


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