Report: Saudi Arabia Invested in Firm that Owns Democrat Party’s Campaign Tech

The Saudi Arabian government is an investor in the private company that owns “a virtual monopoly” on software the Democrat National Committee (DNC) uses to aid its candidates, according to the Intercept.

Sanabil Investment manages Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the official name of the government’s sovereign wealth fund, which is one of the world’s largest at $620 billion in assets.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced its Vision 2030 plan to transition its economy from dependence on oil and gas and more toward tech investment.

The fund reportedly invests half its assets in venture capital firms, 30 percent in private equity firms, and 20 percent in a liquid portfolio.

According to Sanabil’s disclosures, two private equity firms it invested in are linked in the sale and acquisition of EveryAction and NGP VAN, the companies that run the DNC’s tech operations.

As the Intercept reported:

In addition to investments in Apax Partners, which acquired NGP VAN and EveryAction in August 2021, Sanabil is also invested in Insight Partners, another venture capital and private equity firm that invested in EveryAction in 2018 and sold parts of the company to Apax in 2021. (Another company called Vista Equity Partners that sold assets to Apax as part of the 2021 acquisition is also listed as a Saudi partner.)

However, an Apax Partners spokesperson said limited partners like Snail Investments “are passive investors with no role in the management of portfolio companies.”

“While they are entitled to receive information relating to the performance of their investments at fund level, they do not have access to sensitive portfolio company information,” the spokesperson added.

The Intercept continued:

The disclosure of Saudi Arabia’s investments comes less than three months after Bonterra, the new merged company created by the Apax acquisition, instituted layoffs at EveryAction and NGP VAN. At least 140 people were impacted by the layoffs, which Bonterra CEO Mark Layden attributed to the pursuit of “long-term, efficient growth.” (Bonterra did not respond to a request for comment.)

The outlet noted that Sanabil’s investment does not mean the Saudi government has an interest in the functions of the companies.

Progressive strategist Gabe Tobias criticized Sanabil’s disclosure, saying it shows the two companies are owned by an institution that “absolutely doesn’t care about them.”

“They just don’t care. It’s so, so important to the Democratic Party and to progressives organizations and it’s owned by a thing that absolutely doesn’t care about them or even know they exist,” Tobias told the Intercept. “The priority that Apax puts on all the pieces of those holdings means they’re gonna continue to downgrade the services that NGP provides to political campaigns. Unless they say differently, which they never have.”

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.