Saudi Sovereign Fund and Silver Lake Complete $55 Billion Acquisition of Electronic Arts

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, has completed its $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts Inc., cementing state-backed control over one of North America’s largest video game publishers.

The deal hands the Saudi sovereign wealth fund a 93.4% controlling stake in the developer behind key franchises, expanding on its previous 9.9% holding. The transaction closed following clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviewed the deal despite intense pushback from Capitol Hill over national security and foreign influence concerns.

To finance the leveraged buyout, the consortium secured $20 billion in debt financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. The new ownership group has signaled an immediate operational pivot toward integrating artificial intelligence into game production, sparking concerns across EA’s workforce over potential restructuring and cost-cutting measures to service the debt.

“We’re proud to join with PIF and Affinity Partners to invest heavily in EA’s growth, including what AI can do to enhance game development and player experience, and excited to partner with Andrew and the EA team as they raise the bar for fans everywhere,” said Egon Durban, chief executive and managing partner at Silver Lake.

Electronic Arts Chief Executive and Chairman Andrew Wilson, who recently received $38 million in executive compensation, said the agreement would deliver long-term capital and strategic support while preserving internal operations. “This moment recognizes the extraordinary people whose creativity, ambition and passion have made EA one of the world’s leading interactive entertainment companies,” Wilson said in a statement. EA added that its creative freedom and player-first values will remain intact under the new owner.

The buyout drew sharp scrutiny prior to closing. In October, Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren addressed a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, citing “a number of significant foreign influence and national security risks” tied to the transaction, “beginning with the PIF’s reputation as a strategic arm of the Saudi government.” The lawmakers noted that PIF’s expanding investments in global cultural institutions and sports were designed to project soft power and normalize Riyadh’s international image.

Political scrutiny also focused on Affinity Partners founder Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump and a U.S. diplomatic envoy to the Middle East, whose firm received a $2 billion investment commitment from the PIF. CFIUS ultimately approved the takeover without publicly disclosing its findings or any regulatory safeguards imposed on the buyers.

The change of ownership has heightened anxiety among EA’s internal development teams. Employees at subsidiary studio BioWare have expressed particular concern regarding operational pressure, as the studio has not produced a major commercial hit since 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition. Beyond its controlling stake in EA, the Saudi fund maintains global gaming investments through minority holdings in Nintendo Co., Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., and Activision Blizzard.