Saudi prince bumps stake in Twitter to 5.17%

Freshly minted Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apparently has at least one big fan in the Middle East.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud revealed that he now owns 5.17 percent of Twitter’s stock, or 34,948,975 shares.

Under SEC rules, when someone holds more than 5 percent of a company’s stock, they are required to disclose that they have become a “beneficial owner.” The Saudi prince was not listed as a beneficial owner as recently as March 2015, when Twitter’s proxy filing listed all such parties.

It’s unclear exactly how much the Saudi prince owned previously. However, in 2011, he invested $300 million to buy shares of the company from employees. At the time, his ownership was estimated to be about 3 percent.