Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he won’t be selling his shares in microblogging site Twitter amid plans to go public in the biggest IPO since Facebook.
The Saudi billionaire, who owns media company Rotana Holding, invested $300 million in the social media giant in 2011.
“Clearly the speed they’re moving with shows that they would like to IPO sooner than later. I believe it will happen either this year or early next year,” Alwaleed told Reuters.
“Twitter is a very strategic investment for us. We believe that it is just beginning to touch the surface. We have invested $300 million in the company. We will be selling zero, nothing, at the IPO.”
He did not confirm buying new shares in the offer.
Twitter has filed for an initial public offer of shares with U.S. regulators, in the most anticipated debut since Facebook’s listing last year.
“With the 300 million customers they have and half a billion tweets a day, the growth potential is tremendous,” Alwaleed said.
Prince Alwaleed added: “We hear that the company is valued at $14 billion-$15 billion but there have been trades above this valuation. We believe it might be worth more than that.”
