Saudi Arabia which had become the unofficial banking ground for the tech industry has now become an official headache.
This comes with the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson joined other business leaders, distancing themselves from the Saudi government.
Uber and Virgin Galactic had initially turned to Saudi Arabia for vast investments that wouldn’t have been possible on the private market.
Uber had secured $3.5billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment fund in 2016.
Brandson and the Saudi Arabian government had announced the was to invest $1billion in Virgin’s space company.
On Thursday, Branson said the company will “suspend its discussions with the Public Investment Fund over the proposed investment” as investigations into Khashoggi’s fate continue.
