#Public Investment Fund

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie took aim at former President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, during the former New Jersey Governor’s campaign launch Tuesday, saying the “grift from this family is breathtaking.”

“The grift from this family is breathtaking,” Christie said at a New Hampshire town hall. “It’s breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis.”

Christie was pointing to the $2 billion investment made by the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund, which is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, into Kushner’s investment firm A Fin Management, LLC (Affinity) in 2021. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform announced a probe into the investment last year to determine whether Kushner improperly used his influence as a government official to secure the investment.

Kushner served in his father-in law’s administration as an adviser who was tasked with policy in the Middle East. Kushner incorporated Affinity in Delaware in January 2021, shortly after former President Trump left office. Six months later, he received the $2 billion investment, according to the House committee.

“You think it’s because he’s some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it’s because he was sitting next to the President of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis?” Christie asked on Tuesday. “That’s your money. That’s your money he stole and gave it to his family. You know what that makes us? A banana republic.”

Christie, who has been a vocal critic of former President Trump over the last year, did not hold back on his attacks on his former friend at the town hall, saying a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog is not a leader,” and likening him to Voldemort, the villain in the “Harry Potter” series.

Christie entered the growing field of Republican presidential candidates after he filed paperwork Tuesday, but former President Trump remains the front-runner. In a CNN poll last month, just 2% of Republican-leaning voters chose Christie.

#us politics #news #the hill #chris christie #2024 election #2024 elections #2024 republican primaries #Ivanka Trump #Jared Kushner #Ivanka Kushner #Public Investment Fund #saudi royal family #saudi arabia #mohammed bin salman #prince mohammed bin salman #A Fin Management #affinity #House Committee on Oversight and Reform #donald trump #trump administration #2023

[sudden-stops-kill]

golf 🤣

#golf #pga tour #liv tour #saudi arabia #public investment fund #dp world tour #liv golf

[daminouspurity]

The Mukaab will be the world’s first immersive, experiential destination. Large enough to hold 20 Empire State Buildings, the global icon will feature innovative technologies to transport you to new worlds.

#Saudi Arabia #New Murabba #riyadh #future #Public Investment Fund #Mukaab #Murabba #video #youtube #Youtube

[thelegend9798]

Saudi Sovereign-wealth Fund Buys Stake In Royal's Investment Firm

Saudi Sovereign-wealth Fund Buys Stake In Royal’s Investment Firm

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund bought a stake Sunday in a firm owned by billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, further intertwining the government with a high-profile investor who was once detained by the state over corruption allegations. The Public Investment Fund agreed to pay Prince al-Waleed $1.51 billion for 16.9% of Kingdom Holding Co., a figure based on the closing price on the…

View On WordPress

#Prince al-Waleed bin Talal #Public Investment Fund #Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund

[timesofocean]

Saudi to invest in Israel through Jared Kushner’s fund: WSJ

New Post has been published on https://www.timesofocean.com/saudi-to-invest-in-israel-through-jared-kushners-fund-wsj/

Saudi to invest in Israel through Jared Kushner’s fund: WSJ

Washington (The Times Groupe)- Jared Kushner’s new fund will invest Saudi money in Israel.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund committed $2 billion to Kushner’s Affinity Partners, agreeing for the first time to invest in Israeli firms, Wall Street Journal reported.

People familiar with the investment plan say Kushner’s fund plans to invest millions of dollars in Israeli startups, a sign of warming ties between two historic rivals.

According to the people, affinity partners has already chosen the first two Israeli companies to invest in after raising more than $3 billion, including an investment of $2 billion from the kingdom’s sovereign-wealth fund.

Saudi Arabia’s decision is the first known instance of its public investment funds heading to Israel, a sign that the kingdom is increasingly willing to do business with the country even though they have no diplomatic relations. It could pave the way for a breakthrough normalization pact between the two countries.

Using his contacts across the Middle East, Jared Kushner has developed his private equity firm.

Nearly two years after the United States brokered historic normalization deals, Israel is deepening its ties with Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates. As former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a former senior White House adviser, Kushner played a key role in the Abraham Accords. Also, he has established strong ties with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Kushner has been busy building his private equity firm since leaving the White House, a venture likely to earn him lucrative fees regardless of the success or failure of its investments.

From left, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then-President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and Gary Cohn at a meeting in Saudi Arabia in 2017.

Saudi officials agreed that Affinity Partners could invest in Israeli firms during the negotiations for the kingdom’s funding, the people familiar with the firm’s plans said. Working with Kushner could also open the kingdom’s economy to Israeli companies.

Saudi leaders were told by Kushner and his team that they could lose access and opportunities in what they called “the Silicon Valley of the Middle East” to neighbors who had signed the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia, according to the people.

According to Jared Kushner in an interview, his investment plans are a continuation of his work in the White House to advance ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which have refused to normalize relations with Israel until Palestinian leaders agree to create a state.

“If we can get Israelis and Muslims in the region to do business together, that will unite people around shared interests and values,” he said. “We launched a historic regional change that needs to be sustained and nurtured in order to succeed.”

Asked which companies he is working with or how much cash is likely to go to Israel, Kushner and his team declined to divulge. Kushner also declined to discuss his conversations with Prince Mohammed, who oversees the fund’s strategic decisions. Any decision to invest directly in Israel would have needed Prince Mohammed’s approval, according to people familiar with the talks.

Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion Public Investment Fund, whose board is led by Prince Mohammed and includes senior government ministers, declined to comment. The government’s media office did not respond to a request for comment.

Through investments in new industries and sprawling real-estate developments, such as a $500 billion futuristic city-state called Neom, the PIF will transform the domestic Saudi economy. Prince Mohammed told advisers and diplomats that he hopes Israelis will have a big role in developing Neom, including investments in biotechnology and cybersecurity. The prince met with then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Neom in November 2020 in a sign Saudi Arabia could join the Abraham Accords. In the U.S. and Israel, new administrations slowed the pace.

#Arab states #historic normalization deals #Israeli companies #Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu #Jared Kushner’s fund #kingdom's de facto ruler #Middle East #Public Investment Fund #Saudi Arabia #Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman #Times #Times Of Ocean #United Arab Emirates #Unravel News #Wall Street Journal (WSJ) #World

[qqueenofhades]

Why is infrastructure and public transportation so horrible in america compared to the rest of the world?

Capitalism!

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts #i mean of course there's a longer answer #but that's really the main thrust of it #car manufacturers have for example repeatedly killed nationwide high-speed rail #because you guessed it #it would impact their ability to sell cars! #and when everything is privatized and for-profit #that doesn't really incentivize anyone to invest for the public good #especially when Tax Cuts For The Rich strip the public purse of needed funding #so yeah #capitalism #and the libertarian ideology of the American Free Market

[we-re-always-alright]

any time I see people tying minor world events to economics I’m like. that’s not how economics works. I know you want it to be how it works so you can blame someone. but that’s not how it works in any country or global economy.

#it’s like saying gravity only exists on Tuesdays #this is directly looking at two things: #one: saying the FFR (federal funds rate) is why ‘start up’s’ in the gig economy are failing #and two: someone saying we should cause a bank run (multiple bank runs) when we’re still in pre-recession waters #per point one: the FFR is for banks and credit unions and determines what rate at which lending happens #it effects things like housing; car loans; savings accounts; etc because it sets a floor at which interest rates have to be #it does not affect how much money VCs pour into companies they think are going to be worth billions #which VCs pour money into them so they get a % of the company as stock #so they’re incentivized for the company to do well and make them a profit when they go public #not to say these companies might not have traditional bank loans but it’s very unlikely for the amount they’re spending #additionally as we all should have learned from the Glass-Stegel act and the 08 crash #banks need to keep their commercial investments and consumer investments separate #so yes these companies are failing…. but for other reasons like increased regulation; changing preferences in the consumer and economy; #but MOSTLY they were unsustainable businesses at the onset; they didn’t need to be profitable; just go public and make billions on stock #now for point two this one is simple: IF YOU CAUSE MULTIPLE BANK RUNS #THEY BECOME A SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY #AND THEN MORE BANKS FAIL AND WE GET A RECESSION #all caps were necessary here #if you look at the Great Depression (a great example of a banking panic) #not all of the banks were initially failing #but by people panicking about their money (and a lack of the FDIC at the time) #but because people panicked and pulled their money out the banks failed anyway and caused the worst recession in US history #so yes feel free to cause a banking run and tank the economy #it’s likely Europe will enter a recession in the next 6 months so please exacerbate the situation #(which because global economy will push us further into possible recession) #I’m sure people will have plenty of time to feel smug and superior while sitting on a mattress of cash and looking for jobs #ugh anyway bad economics bothers me #just cause you watched a dude rant about it on YouTube (when he doesn’t know what a Phillips curve is) doesn’t mean you know economics #thoughts? thoughts #or: wHy DoNt YoU jUsT bAlAnCe ThE eCoNoMy LiKe My ChEcKbOoK

[crratbc]

Thebrief’s key findings are:

In FY 2022, public pension plans experienced negative asset returns, and some say it could have been even worse without alternative investments.

But the real question is have alternatives (private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities) helped or hurt over the long term?

The results suggest that, from 2001-2022, alternatives have not helped overall returns – although they may have reduced volatility.

#state and local #pension #public pensions #investments #private equity #real estate #hedge funds

[psudopod]

"Oh boy just another morality police picking fights in the plaza"

"Oh... Keep it up, everyone!"

#splatoon 3 #splatoon plaza #plaza posts #ram ranch #apparently the saudi's public investment fund has a 7% stake in Nintendo which is a lot of money...

[jamestaylorswift]

seeing all the traffic in erazona makes me grateful that the stadium I’m going to has public transportation right next to it

#gotta make a swift getaway #*ba dum tss* #anyways fund and build public transportation! more bike lanes! more walkable areas! invest in public infrastructure!! #rambles

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

I am relatively financially savvy, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the best option is for investing.

#for those who don't know #I used to actually be a paid financial advice columnist #specializing in loan management and student debt #I also used to do public speaking about college funding and debt repayment #but investing confuses me so much haha

[mckinlily]

Plot armor but it’s Bruce Wayne’s wealth.

Bruce is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce does not want to be one of the richest men in world.

He starts by implementing high starting salaries and full health care coverages for all levels at Wayne Enterprises. This in vastly improves retention and worker productivity, and WE profits soar. He increases PTO, grants generous parental and family leave, funds diversity initiatives, boosts salaries again. WE is ranked “#1 worker-friendly corporation”, and productively and profits soar again.

Ok, so clearly investing his workers isn’t the profit-destroying doomed strategy his peers claim it is. Bruce is going to keep doing it obviously (his next initiative is to ensure all part-time and contractors get the same benefits and pay as full time employees), but he is going to have to find a different way to dump his money.

But you know what else is supposed to be prohibitively expensive? Green and ethical initiatives. Yes, Bruce can do that. He creates and fund a 10 year plan to covert all Wayne facilities to renewable energy. He overhauls all factories to employ the best environmentally friendly practices and technologies. He cuts contracts with all suppliers that engage in unethical employment practices and pays for other to upgrade their equipment and facilities to meet WE’s new environmental and safety requirements. He spares no expense.

Yeah, Wayne Enterprises is so successful that they spin off an entire new business arm focused on helping other companies convert to environmentally friendly and safe practices like they did in an efficient, cost effective, successful way.

Admittedly, investing in his own company was probably never going to be the best way to get rid of his wealth. He slashes his own salary to a pittance (god knows he has more money than he could possibly know what to do with already) and keeps investing the profits back into the workers, and WE keeps responding with nearly terrifying success.

So WE is a no-go, and Bruce now has numerous angry billionaires on his back because they’ve been claiming all these measures he’s implementing are too expensive to justify for decades and they’re finding it a little hard to keep the wool over everyone’s eyes when Idiot Softheart Bruice Wayne has money spilling out his ears. BUT Bruce can invest in Gotham. That’ll go well, right?

Gotham’s infrastructure is the OSHA anti-Christ and even what little is up to code is constantly getting destroyed by Rogue attacks. Surely THAT will be a money sink.

Except the only non-corrupt employer in Gotham city is….Wayne Enterprises. Or contractors or companies or businesses that somehow, in some way or other, feed back to WE. Paying wholesale for improvement to Gotham’s infrastructure somehow increases WE’s profits.

Bruce funds a full system overhaul of Gotham hospital (it’s not his fault the best administrative system software is WE—he looked), he sets up foundations and trusts for shelters, free clinics, schools, meal plans, day care, literally anything he can think of.

Gotham continues to be a shithole. Bruce Wayne continues to be richer than god against his Batman-ingrained will.

Oh, and Bruice Wayne is no longer viewed as solely a spoiled idiot nepo baby. The public responds by investing in WE and anything else he owns, and stop doing this, please.

Bruce sets up a foundation to pay the college tuition of every Gotham citizen who applies. It’s so successful that within 10 years, donations from previous recipients more than cover incoming need, and Bruce can’t even donate to his own charity.

But by this time, Bruce has children. If he can’t get rid of his wealth, he can at least distribute it, right?

Except Dick Grayson absolutely refuses to receive any of his money, won’t touch his trust fund, and in fact has never been so successful and creative with his hacking skills as he is in dumping the money BACK on Bruce. Jason died and won’t legally resurrect to take his trust fund. Tim has his own inherited wealth, refuses to inherit more, and in fact happily joins forces with Dick to hack accounts and return whatever money he tries to give them. Cass has no concept of monetary wealth and gives him panicked, overwhelmed eyes whenever he so much as implies offering more than $100 at once. Damian is showing worrying signs of following in his precious Richard’s footsteps, and Babs barely allows him to fund tech for the Clocktower. At least Steph lets him pay for her tuition and uses his credit card to buy unholy amounts of Batburger. But that is hardly a drop in the ocean of Bruce’s wealth. And she won’t even accept a trust fund of only one million.

Jason wins for best-worst child though because he currently runs a very lucrative crime empire. And although he pours the vast, vast majority of his profits back into Crime Alley, whenever he gets a little too rich for his tastes, he dumps the money on Bruce. At this point, Bruce almost wishes he was being used for money laundering because then he’s at least not have the money.

So children—generous, kindhearted, stubborn till the day they die the little shits, children—are also out.

Bruce was funding the Justice League. But then finances were leaked, and the public had an outcry over one man holding so much sway over the world’s superheroes (nevermind Bruce is one of those superheroes—but the public can’t know that). So Bruce had to do some fancy PR trickery, concede to a policy of not receiving a majority of funds from one individual, and significantly decrease his contributions because no one could match his donations.

At his wits end, Bruce hires a team of accounts to search through every crinkle and crevice of tax law to find what loopholes or shortcuts can be avoided in order to pay his damn taxes to the MAX.

The results are horrifying. According to the strictest definition of the law, the government owes him money.

Bruce burns the report, buries any evidence as deeply as he can, and organizes a foundation to lobby for FAR higher taxation of the upper class.

All this, and Wayne Enterprises is happily chugging along, churning profit, expanding into new markets, growing in the stock market, and trying to force the credit and proportionate compensation on their increasingly horrified CEO.

Bruce Wayne is one of the richest men in the world. Bruce Wayne will never not be one of the richest men in the world.

But by GOD is he trying.

#batman #bruce wayne #laws of this dc universe say Gotham is always a hellcity #and bruce wayne is always filthy rich #bruce wayne is fighting with everything he has against both those facts #he’s not going to win #but he’s not going to stop either #bruce crying with fistfuls of money in his hands: take it. PLEASE #the public: donate more???

[twtsc]

School Board Approves New CATE Computers, Power Easements at New High School

By: Jeremy Handel, Staff [email protected] The Career and Technical Education (CATE) program in Woodruff will be getting new computers after the District Four Board of Trustees approved the purchase at their February meeting. The Board also approved an easement for Duke Energy at the new high school site to ease future equipment relocations and repairs. The CATE program…

View On WordPress

#Athletic and Academic Achievements #CATE Program Updates #Community Engagement Activities #Duke Energy Easement Agreement #Federal and State Education Funding #Public School Board Meetings #School Capital Improvements #School Infrastructure Investments #Technology in Education #Woodruff School District

[dencyemily]

Industrial Metaverse Takes Center Stage as Magic Leap Increases Investment; Apple's AR Goggles Set to Hit the Market

In the rapidly evolving landscape of augmented reality and virtual reality, Magic Leap stands out with its recent injection of $590 million from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, bringing its total funding to an impressive $4.5 billion. This funding boost comes at a time when competition in the AR/VR space is heating up, notably with Apple set to launch its much-anticipated Vision Pro headset in February.

Magic Leap, a leading mixed reality startup, is taking a distinctive approach by prioritizing practical applications in the enterprise sector over broad metaverse buzzwords. Unlike Apple's consumer-centric focus, Magic Leap's Magic Leap 2 headset is gaining traction in areas such as surgical training, industrial maintenance, and enterprise solutions, where precision and real-world integration are crucial.

In a recent interview, Daniel Diez, Magic Leap's CTO, expressed his skepticism about metaverse hype cycles, emphasizing that the true potential of the metaverse lies in seamlessly blending digital experiences with the physical world. This sentiment aligns with Magic Leap's CEO, Ross Rosenberg, who underscored the company's commitment to solving real-world problems for its customers, particularly in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and design.

While acknowledging Apple's entry into the AR market, Rosenberg remains confident in Magic Leap's distinct edge, citing superior technology and existing enterprise partnerships. He pointed to Magic Leap's pinpoint spatial tracking and sub-millimeter overlay accuracy as significant advantages for specific use cases, highlighting the company's focus on addressing industrial challenges rather than entertainment-oriented experiences.

Despite the buzz surrounding the metaverse, Magic Leap's emphasis on practical applications seems to resonate with both investors and potential customers. With the global AR/VR market projected to reach $50.9 billion by 2026, according to IDC, Magic Leap is strategically positioning itself to capitalize on the immense potential by providing real-world solutions for businesses.

#Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund #Magic Leap #Apple #CEO #MR startup #AR/VR space #Vision Pro headset #metaverse token market #Daniel Diez #CTO #hype cycles #metaverse fabric #Cryptotale