Meta, Shopify and PayPal: Saudi wealth fund sold its stakes in Q2

BANGALORE/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s almost $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund sold its stakes in several US-listed companies - including Meta, Shopify and PayPal - in the second quarter, according to securities filings released on Thursday.

The Public Investment Fund also sold its stakes in Alibaba Group, Nu Holdings and FedEx, the 13F filings show, during a quarter in which US stock markets rebounded from an April drop tied to US tariff policies.

The filings showed that PIF no longer held any shares in Meta, Shopify, PayPal, Alibaba, Nu Holdings and FedEx. Its previous filing showed that, at the end of March, the fund had 667,996 class A shares in Meta, 1.25 million class A shares in Shopify, 1.76 million shares in PayPal, 6.83 million shares class A shares in Nu Holdings, 1.61 million in Alibaba sponsored ADS, and 498,164 common shares in FedEx.

PIF’s total exposure to US equities, which include call options that give the state investor a right to buy an underlying asset at a specified price within a specific time period, was valued at $23.8 billion at the end of the second quarter, versus $25.5 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Tasked with spearheading Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan, PIF has moved well beyond its early holdings in Saudi public equities and infrastructure. In recent years, the fund took high-profile stakes in global brands, such as Uber and Lucid Motors, while also backing sports ventures including LIV Golf and English soccer club Newcastle United.

At home, it has poured billions into giga-projects such as NEOM, the futuristic city on the Red Sea, and sectors like tourism, logistics, and clean energy.