How Saudi government-related funds, like the country's main tech university endowment and Aramco's Wisayah, invest in US VC firms, often confidentially
People talk about money from “the Saudis.” But it's not that simple. Who exactly are “the Saudis,” anyway? Tweets: @mattzeitlin , @amir , @ketchcast , @teddyschleifer , @ex67t20 , @teddyschleifer , and @teddyschleifer Tweets: Matthew Zeitlin / @mattzeitlin : Recode says Travis Kalanick was in Riyadh during the investment conference http://www.recode.net/... Amir Efrati / @amir : Interesting tidbit here: Saudi Arabia is an LP in Sequoia Capital, in the form of a school endowment. http://www.recode.net/... John Ketchum / @ketchcast : “People have to pull out of the conference for optics. But they can basically accept the capital and say, 'Oh well, we'll let you be an investor, but you can't tell anyone',” said one person tracking the Saudi footprint in Silicon Valley. http://www.recode.net/... Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer : People talk in Silicon Valley about “the Saudis."But it's not so simple. Lots of different funds with different strategies. Here's who “the Saudis” are. http://www.recode.net/... Milo M. / @ex67t20 : @ropebelt @JamesFourM http://www.recode.net/... Not to go too far down a rabbit hole, but both Thiel and his fellow Facebook investor Jim Breyer were in Riyadh for FII this past week. Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer : One big Saudi investor in lots of top-tier US venture capital funds: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.A $20 billion endowment backed by the royal family.Has been in some big funds like Sequoia.http://www.recode.net/ ... Teddy Schleifer / @teddyschleifer : Sam Altman tells me there has never been Saudi money in any YC fund (although he has tried to build a strong relationship with the Saudis, per sources.)http://www.recode.net/ ...