Snapchat CEO Spiegel, Prince Alwaleed Hold Meeting (FB)

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is on watch Monday following news that HRH Prince Alwaleed and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel recently met. Snapchat is a competitor to Facebook's Instagram.

The following press release was issued by Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company on Sunday:

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), received Mr. Evan Spiegel CEO of Snapchat who was accompanied by Mr. Imran Khan, Chief Strategy Officer, Snapchat.

The meeting was also attended by a delegation from KHC that included Dr. Adel Alsayed, Executive Director for International and Private Equity, Mr. Mohammed Fahmy, KHC’s CFO and Mr. Naief Alzuhair, Website and Social Media Manager.

From HRH’s private office, the attendees were Ms. Nada Alsugair, Executive Director, Finance and Administration and Mr. Fahad Bin Saad Bin Nafel, Executive Assistant to HRH the Chairman.

During the meeting, Mr. Spiegel thanked the Prince for giving him the opportunity to meet with him. During their meeting HRH and Mr. Spiegel discussed political, business and economic issues. The two also discussed Prince Alwaleed’s investments in the US in light of being the largest individual foreign investor there. Also, on the agenda of discussions was future potential business cooperation between KHC and Snap Chat in the technology field. Moreover, Prince Alwaleed hosted a luncheon in honor of his guest at Kingdom Resort.

Snapchat first launched in July 2011and was started by Brown and Spiegel as a project for one of Spiegel’s classes at Stanford University, where Spiegel was a product design major. Snapchat is one of the most popular social media messaging services available on smartphones. The application allows you to send photos and/or videos to your friends; once they receive it they can only view it for several seconds, before the file disappears ‘forever.’

HRH has significant investments in the US in the financial sector via Citigroup, in the media and entertainment sector through 21st Fox Century and in the hotel sector through the Fairmont New York Plaza one of New York’s most distinctive landmarks, Four Seasons hotel via the management of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in which KHC hold a 47.5% interest, and in the Social Media and Technology sector via Twitter. In addition to the investment in Jingdong Inc. (JD.com), shares of JD.com began trading on the Nasdaq in May 2014 under the symbol ‘JD’ in which KHC and Prince Alwaleed hold an equally combined stake of its capital.

His Highness first invested in Citigroup in 1991, and is the largest individual shareholder in the company. In 2008, Prince Alwaleed participated in the private offering of convertible preferred securities of Citigroup. The new direct investment was made alongside an exclusive group of leading international investors. The Prince converted the preferred shares in 2009 into common shares (voting shares). Prince Alwaleed has 7% (voting shares) through KHC in 21st Fox Century and KHC that is 95% owned by Prince Alwaleed, is the second largest shareholder in 21st Fox Century after the Murdoch family. Moreover, 21st Fox Century owns 19% stake in Rotana that is privately owned by Prince Alwaleed.

The New York Plaza that is partially owned by HRH through KHC underwent a $400 million renovation and reopened a few years ago. The hotel is managed by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) in which KHC holds a substantial interest.

You May Also Be Interested In

• FDA clears Merck's Keytruda combo for muscle-invasive bladder cancer
• Praxis strikes deal with Remagine Labs on transdermal ET drug patch
• TD Cowen: '2Q26 Digital Ad Expert Call: Resilient Consumer Continues to Drive Ad Spend'