Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan ( ar, ياسر الرميان) is a
Saudi businessman who is Governor of the
Public Investment Fund
The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ar, links=no, صندوق الإستثمارات العامة) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of $620 billion ...
(PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
. He also serves as the Chairman of English football club
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
and the Chairman of state-owned petroleum company
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...
.
Early life and education
Yasir Al-Rumayyan was born in
Buraidah
Buraidah ( ar, بريدة ') is the capital and largest city of Al-Qassim Region in north-central Saudi Arabia in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. Buraydah lies equidistant from the Red Sea to the west and Persian Gulf to the east. Its known fo ...
,
Al-Qassim Province
The Qassim Province ( ar, منطقة القصيم ' , Najdi Arabic: ), also known as the Qassim Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. Located at the heart of the country near the geographic center of the Arabian Peninsula, it ha ...
in 1970 and graduated from
King Faisal University
King Faisal University (KFU) ( ar, جامعة الملك فيصل ') is a public university with the main campus in the city of Hofuf in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia founded in 1975. KFU was initially established with four colleges: two in Dammam and t ...
in
Alahsa in 1993.
Career
He began his career at
Saudi Hollandi Bank
The Alawwal Bank ( ar, البنك الأول), previously known as Saudi Hollandi Bank, was a Saudi Arabian bank based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the first operating bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was founded in 1926 as a branch of ...
, becoming head of international brokerage before joining the
Capital Markets Authority (CMA), where he was head of securities listings. Between 2011 and 2015, Al-Rumayyan was CEO of Saudi Fransi Capital (SFC), the investment banking arm of
Banque Saudi Fransi
Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) (Arabic: البنك السعودي الفرنسي) is a Saudi Joint Stock company which was established in 1977.
The bank is affiliated with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank. Credit Agricole CIB is a full ...
.
From 2014 to 2015 he was on the board of directors of the
Saudi Stock Exchange
Saudi Stock Exchange () or Tadāwul () is a stock exchange in Saudi Arabia. Tadāwul was formed in 2007 as a joint stock company and the sole entity authorized to act as a securities exchange in Saudi Arabia, but trading began in 1954 as an info ...
.
Public Investment Fund
In September 2015, Al-Rumayyan was appointed managing director of the
Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia
The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ar, links=no, صندوق الإستثمارات العامة) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of $620 billion ...
.
In 2016, PIF invested $3.5 billion in the US-based
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
He joined Uber's board of directors as part of the agreement.
In August 2016, Al-Rumayyan joined the board of the state oil company
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...
as part of a move toward closer cooperation between Aramco and PIF in restructuring the Saudi economy. In October that year, PIF invested $45 billion in the newly established
SoftBank Vision Fund
The SoftBank Vision Fund is a venture capital fund founded in 2017 that is part of the SoftBank Group. With over $100 billion in capital, it is the world's largest technology-focused investment fund. In 2019, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was founded. T ...
. In May 2017, PIF invested $20 billion to a joint US infrastructure fund with
Blackstone.
In October 2017, Al-Rumayyan announced that PIF would aim to increase its assets under management to more than $400 billion and create more than 20,000 new jobs by 2020.
[ At the same time he presented a new investment strategy for the fund, based on four objectives of maximizing assets, investing in new sectors, localizing technologies, and developing economic partnerships.][ He also said PIF would borrow conservatively to finance specific assets and would seek further partnerships such as those with Blackstone and ]SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
.[ He sits on the boards of ]SoftBank Group
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
and Reliance Industries Ltd
Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is o ...
.
Al-Rumayyan was involved in the transfer of assets to PIF in the wake of the Saudi Arabian government's 2017 purge. Al-Rumayyan transferred 20 companies that had been seized by the government into the PIF. One of these companies was later alleged to be used by Saudi operatives in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...
.
In September 2018, Al-Rumayyan announced PIF's first step in incorporating loans and debt instruments into its long term strategy, with an $11 billion loan facility. The following month he said the fund would aim to increase the percentage of international assets in its portfolio from 10% to 50% by 2030.
At the Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Miami, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. It publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based p ...
in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
in February 2019, Al-Rumayyan announced that PIF would open new offices in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and would increase its workforce from 450 to 700 by the end of 2019. He also said the fund would invest in renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
projects in Saudi Arabia, including the local manufacture of solar panels
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...
.[
In October 2021, PIF announced that the acquisition of ]Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
by the consortium consisting of the Public Investment Fund and Al-Rumayyan would be elected as chairman of the club after PIF acquired the club.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumayyan, Yasir
1970 births
Living people
King Faisal University alumni
Newcastle United F.C. directors and chairmen
Saudi Arabian businesspeople
Saudi Arabian investment bankers
Saudi Arabian government officials
SoftBank people
Uber people