London: The head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has joined the board of UK chip designer ARM Holdings, deepening ties between the PIF, ARM parent SoftBank Group Corp., and its near-$100 billion technology financing vehicle.
Yasir Othman Al Rumayyan, managing director of the PIF, joined the board of ARM in recent weeks, a spokesperson for the chip designer told Bloomberg on Tuesday. The PIF — which aims to become a $2-trillion investment giant — has announced plans to invest as much as $45 billion into SoftBank’s huge tech-focused Vision Fund, and the two financiers are also embarking on a major solar energy venture.
In 2016 SoftBank paid about $32 billion for ARM. Sprint Corp Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure — who in May was promoted to chief operating officer at SoftBank — joined the board of the chip designer in March, alongside the Japanese company’s founder, Masayoshi Son.
