EA's New Boss? Saudi Arabia's PIF Now Set to Own 93%

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to become the near-total owner of EA in a massive $55 billion take-private deal, with new filings showing it would control around 93% of the company while partners Silver Lake and Affinity take much smaller slices. That's not just another finance headline - it hands one of the world's biggest game publishers, and franchises like EA Sports FC and Apex Legends, to a state-backed fund already under scrutiny.

EA’s Saudi buyout: what’s actually happening?

EA has already agreed to be taken private in a $55bn deal backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. What we didn’t know until now was who would actually control the company.

A new filing, flagged in The Wall Street Journal and reported by VGC, shows the breakdown:

• PIF will own 93.4% of EA if the buyout is approved
• Silver Lake will own 5.5%
• Affinity Partners (Jared Kushner’s fund) will own 1.1%
• PIF is expected to put up around $29bn of the cash
• The deal still needs shareholder and regulatory approval

In other words: this is not three equal partners buying EA. It’s basically Saudi Arabia taking over EA, with two financial firms tagging along with much smaller slices. If you want a refresher on how the original deal was framed when it was first reported, we broke that down in our earlier coverage on EA’s go-private talks backed by PIF and partners on tbreak.

Why a 93% stake is raising eyebrows

On paper, this is “just” another leveraged buyout. In practice, it’s a sovereign wealth fund owning almost all of one of the biggest publishers in gaming – which is not how these deals usually look.

• Sovereign funds like PIF usually take minority stakes
• Private equity firms normally lead and hold bigger chunks
• Here, PIF is taking the dominant role
• The buyout is being described as a big financial bet for Saudi Arabia

The Wall Street Journal notes that it’s “unusual” for a sovereign wealth fund to be this dominant in a consortium deal. Typically, funds like PIF “ride on the coattails” of private equity specialists who lead the transaction and operational strategy. Here, that logic is flipped: PIF is effectively the new owner, and everyone else is along for the ride.

That scale matters, because whoever controls EA controls some of the world’s biggest gaming brands – from football and UFC to shooters and mobile. Even if gamers don’t see changes on day one, decisions around budgets, staffing and long-term strategy will be driven from Riyadh-backed capital.

PIF’s gaming push – and the money pressure behind it

This deal doesn’t come out of nowhere. PIF has already poured billions into games and esports, including Savvy Games Group and projects in Saudi like the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. We’ve already seen that with Qiddiya’s move into Evo’s parent company and Saudi’s Esports World Cup push, both backed by PIF-linked entities.

According to the VGC write-up and WSJ’s reporting:

• The PIF is roughly a $1 trillion fund, but
• It’s already committed huge sums to megaprojects like Neom
• It’s also backing new stadiums for the 2034 FIFA World Cup
• A recent report suggested PIF may slow new investments due to financial strain

So PIF is stretching itself across future cities, sports, electric cars and now one of gaming’s biggest publishers. The EA deal adds another large, long-term commitment – and piles more risk on a fund that’s already backing everything from theme parks to esports leagues.

For gamers, the key point is this: PIF isn’t buying EA as a toy. It’s a strategic asset in a wider plan to turn Saudi Arabia into a global entertainment and gaming hub, with events in Riyadh and broadcast deals that already reach the UAE and wider MENA.

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