Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

KHC would consider TikTok stake if Musk bought in

By Reuters
Smiling Arab Muslim Islamic 30s woman user in headscarf black hijab using phone at home sitting on couch middle eastern girl lady holding mobile Alamy via Reuters
Should Elon Musk emerge as a serious contender for the purchase of TikTok, Kingdom Holdings of Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in exploring a potential investment with him

Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s investment company Kingdom Holding (KHC) would be interested in investing in ByteDance’s TikTok if Elon Musk or others offered to buy it, CEO Talal Ibrahim al-Maiman told Al Arabiya TV on Wednesday.

The search to find a buyer for the Chinese-owned popular short video app continues after it went dark and was revived later after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of a ban on it by 75 days.

Trump said on Tuesday he was open to billionaire Musk buying the app if the Tesla CEO wanted to do so.

Al-Maiman, responding to a question by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya if KHC would be interested in TikTok in case Musk offered to buy it, said: “If Musk or others offered, we would have a desire to look into that investment, no doubt.”

Register now: It’s easy and free

AGBI registered members can access even more of our unique analysis and perspective on business and economics in the Middle East.

Why sign uP

  • Exclusive weekly email from our editor-in-chief
  • Personalised weekly emails for your preferred industry sectors
  • Read and download our insight packed white papers
  • Access to our mobile app
  • Prioritised access to live events
Register for free

I’ll register later

Latest articles

King Abdullah of Jordan held talks with President Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, at the White House in February

Jordan wins exemption from Trump’s freeze on US aid

Millions of dollars in US grants for Jordan’s largest water desalination project dried up when President Donald Trump announced sweeping cuts to foreign aid in January. Within two months, support was flowing again – a result of diplomacy that has arguably put the Middle Eastern state on a more solid financial footing than before January, […]

Wind power in Chalkewadi, Maharashtra. India is aiming for 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030

Alterra part of $100m buy-in for Indian renewable energy company

Alterra, the UAE’s $30 billion climate fund, has partnered with investors including Canada-based investment company Brookfield Asset Management, to co-invest $100 million in Indian renewable energy company Evren.  The investment aims to bolster Alterra’s clean energy portfolio and accelerate India’s push toward 500 gigawatts (GW) of installed renewable capacity by 2030, it said in a […]

Kuwait plans to fast-track the construction of four solar power plants by next summer

Kuwait to build solar power plants by next summer

Kuwait is planning to build four solar power plants with a combined generation capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power about 1.5 million homes, according to local media. The ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy is studying the projects, which must be completed by summer next year, Alanba daily said, quoting ministry sources. […]

An Egyptian farmer harvesting flax, which the country exports. Shifting trade patterns could result in more foreign direct investment

UAE and Egypt could benefit most from global trade shift

The UAE and Egypt may benefit the most among Mena countries from the US-led reordering of the global trade framework, Citigroup Mena CEO Ebru Pakcan has said. By contrast, oil producers from Iraq to Kuwait and Oman to Bahrain could struggle, Pakcan said, on the back of the lowest international prices in four years.  Resource-poor […]

Doha. Qatar's business measures contributed to an 87 percent annual increase in the number of new commercial licences

Industrial investments in Qatar reach $13.8m in Q1

Qatar attracted QAR50 million ($13.8 million) worth of new industrial investments in the first quarter of 2025, with eight new factories beginning operations, according to its ministry of commerce and industry.  Commercial registrations in the three months to March rose 32 percent year on year, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, after a […]

Red Sea Global expansion – the Six Senses Southern Dunes was the first hotel at The Red Sea resort to open

PIF’s Red Sea Global plans Saudi and overseas expansion

Red Sea Global is expanding beyond its west coast base to develop hotels and other projects in Saudi Arabia and overseas, a company executive has said. The company will probably announce a new project in a Saudi city later this year, head of hospitality Sébastien Carre told AGBI on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market […]

UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, seen here with Donald Trump last month, leads stablecoin backer IHC

Abu Dhabi group creating dirham-backed stablecoin

Sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co. is among a group of companies developing a cryptocurrency that will be linked to the UAE dirham currency. Better known as ADQ, the fund – together with the emirate’s International Holding Company (IHC) and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) – will develop the stablecoin to be regulated […]

Borouge's sales volume of polyethylene and polypropylene, used in plastics and packaging, increased

Borouge net profit increases to $281m for first quarter

UAE petrochemical company Borouge reported a rise in profit for the first quarter, driven by higher production and revenue. Net profit for the three months to March rose to $281 million, on the back of an increase in sales volumes and cost reduction, the company said in a statement. Production volumes rose 7 percent year […]

KFC is one of the many fast food brands operated by Americana Restaurants in the Middle East

Americana reports growth in revenue and profit

Americana Restaurants reported a higher net income for the first quarter of 2025 compared with this time last year, as a consumer boycott targeted at the company’s brands related to the Gaza conflict eased. Net profit in the three months to March grew 16.5 percent in the quarter to $32.6 million, driven by higher revenue […]

Adnoc is to sell more US LPG to India. LPG has a variety of uses, including as a cooking fuel.

Adnoc to supply US LPG to India following China-US tariffs

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will start replacing some of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) it supplies to India with cheaper US cargoes from June, industry sources said, as US-China tariffs rejig global trade flows. The move will enable Adnoc to ship more of its own LPG to China, where buyers are paying higher […]

Eric Trump was in Dubai representing the Trump Organizaton to launch a new luxury tower in partnership with real estate developer Dar Global

Eric Trump: the Gulf is dependent on a strong America

The Gulf region is dependent on a strong United States and wants security so local economies can flourish, the US president’s son Eric Trump said in an interview with Reuters. In Dubai as an executive of the president’s family business, the Trump Organization – which launched a new tower in the city in partnership with […]

ADCB said customer deposits rose 15 percent year on year to AED442 billion

ADCB records promising early year results

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), the UAE’s third largest bank by assets, reported double-digit growth for the first quarter of 2025.  The bank cited an increase in operating income and growth across its core businesses.  Rated as the UAE’s strongest banking brand for the second consecutive year by Brand Finance, ADCB reported a net profit […]