Electronic Arts Buyout by Saudi PIF and Affinity Partners: A Retrospective on the $50 Billion Deal That Wasn’t
Electronic Arts Buyout by Saudi PIF and Affinity Partners: A Retrospective on the $50 Billion Deal That Wasn’t
In what was once anticipated to be the largest leveraged buyout in history, reports from 2023 indicated that Electronic Arts (EA), the gaming powerhouse behind Madden and FIFA, was nearing a monumental $50 billion deal to go private. The proposed acquisition involved a consortium of investors, including the private equity firm Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner.
At the time, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the PIF’s significant role, noting its substantial funding of Affinity Partners and its existing stake of nearly 10 percent in EA as of 2023. This move was part of Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Savvy Games Group (launched in 2021), to diversify its economy away from oil through extensive investments in the video game and esports sectors.
Beyond EA, the PIF had already accumulated stakes in other major gaming entities such as Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft) and Take-Two Interactive (Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto). While the PIF also held shares in Nintendo, it had reportedly reduced its holdings in 2024.
Following the initial reports, EA’s shares saw a significant surge, closing up 15 percent on a particular Friday. Despite the buzz and the expectation that an announcement could be imminent, the proposed $50 billion buyout of Electronic Arts did not materialize as anticipated, remaining a notable, unexecuted chapter in the gaming industry’s financial landscape.
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