Who is Yasir Al-Rumayyan? The man set to become the new chairman of Newcastle United as takeover nears completion

Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, will lead the club’s new-look board when the £300million+ takeover of PIF, PCP Partners and the Reuben brothers is confirmed.

The deal will end Mike Ashley’s torrid 14-year ownership, eighteen months after a deal was first agreed between the two parties.

Here, we take a closer look at Al-Rumayyan:

Who is Yasir Al-Rumayyan?

Al-Rumayyan, 51, as previously mentioned, is chairman of PIF, which is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and has assets of around £300billion.

Through PIF, Al-Rumayyan also sits on the boards of Uber, SoftBank Group, Reliance Industries and Saudi Aramco, the state oil company.

PIF is central to the Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the economy away from oil and drive new tourist and entertainment industries.

During the takeover saga last year, which initially collapsed in July, Al-Rumayyan was set to take a place on the board.

What has Yasir Al-Rumayyan said previously?

In April last year, Al-Rumayyan revealed that PIF were looking to ‘improve the diversity’ of their revenues as they look to strike a deal for Newcastle.

During an interview with The David Rubenstein Show on Bloomberg, Al-Rumayyan was quizzed on what PIF’s primary objectives are in the coming months.

And he has explained how the group were considering different sources of revenue as they bid to increase their financial returns.

“We need to have higher returns and a positive economic impact,” said Al-Rumayyan. “We also need to improve the diversity of revenues.”

The investment chief also went on to explain the process of how the PIF approve an investment deal.

Using the example of PIF’s recent investment in transportation app Uber, Al-Rumayyan revealed the extensive layers of approval that are required before PIF invest in any business.

“I ask the team to go look at it, and then it goes through the investment structure we have,” he explained.

“We have layers and layers of investment diligence and what have you.

“It then goes to the investment committee and the board.”

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