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Saudi Arabia increases stake in Nintendo (NTDOY) to 6 percent

By way of the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia has heightened its stake in Nintendo, becoming one of the company's largest shareholders.

TJ Denzer

January 12, 2023 9:45 AM

Image via Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund

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As Saudi Arabia has aggressively moved to diversify its economy with technology and entertainment, Nintendo is one of its major interests. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) already had a notable stake in the Big N, but it just increased that stake even further. Saudi Arabia now has about a 6 percent stake in Nintendo, making it one of the largest Nintendo shareholders.

This increased investment was recently reported via Reuters, who spotted a financial filing disclosing the increased investment. With the investment, Saudi Arabia’s PIF moves from a 5.01% to a 6.07% stake in Nintendo. This makes Saudi Arabia one of the largest investors in Nintendo overall, with only groups like The Master Trust Bank of Japan and Custody Bank of Japan ahead of it in share ownership.

Saudi Arabia’s government and royal family have invested deeply into video games, entertainment, and technology in the last few years via the Saudi Arabia PIF. The goal has been to diversify away from economic reliance on oil. In addition to its previous 5 percent stake in Nintendo disclosed in May 2022, it has also invested sizably in the likes of Capcom, Nexon, and the Embracer Group, just to name a few. Saudi-backed investment groups have also put around $13 billion USD aside, signaling imminent intention to attempt to acquire a major game publisher. It likely isn’t Nintendo Saudi Arabia is eyeing (Microsoft tried to acquire Nintendo before to unfortunate results), but the increased stake in Nintendo’s overall shares is notable nonetheless.

As Saudi Arabia continues to use its PIF to stretch its hands into gaming, stay tuned as we continue to follow for more acquisitions, investments, and updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.