Year in Review

The year 2024 proved a period of resilience and productivity for Kingdom Holding Company as it made significant strides toward its strategic vision despite lingering macroeconomic uncertainties.

Having already adapted to the unprecedented challenges that came to define the investment climate during the last half-decade, the company successfully navigated the challenging market conditions of the past year by reallocating resources to higher-growth, future-oriented sectors and capitalizing on new and emerging opportunities in renewable energy, urban development, digital technology, and private debt markets.

In 2024, KHC continued to strategically align with Saudi Vision 2030, with over 40% of our investments focused on domestic sectors such as aviation, healthcare, finance, and technology. Our extensive international portfolio also continued to support the Kingdom’s ongoing transformation during a year that saw Saudi Arabia further advance its growth agenda. Resuming construction of the Jeddah Tower, soon to be the tallest building in the world, was also an important highlight.

KHC has always had a keen eye for growth opportunities in the tech world. In 2024, one of the more notable developments in this regard was increased investment in xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup, in pursuit of a strategic goal to stay ahead of the curve on the rapidly advancing domain of artificial intelligence. We recognise the immense potential of AI, which we believe remains largely untapped in spite of the major advances made over the past two years as well as the more recent disruptions, and we are keen to explore the growth avenues it is sure to open up. Increased investments in AI is fully in line with KHC’s strategy of expanding in high-growth sectors and cutting-edge technologies, leveraging future market opportunities and innovation trends to expand and enhance our digital services portfolio. KHC’s investment in xAI, amounts to USD 800 million across Rounds B and C, equivalent to approximately X 3 billion.

In terms of sectoral performance, we recorded strong gains in US and Chinese tech stocks, financial services, hospitality, and real estate, though emerging markets faced some persistent challenges that included market volatility, which called for adaptive strategies. KHC also took a strategic decision to exit in excess of USD 1.5 Bn. in Mature Assets as part of a broader portfolio optimisation strategy, which saw the reallocation of resources to innovation-driven industries and also helped optimise returns.

Improvements to governance was a key focus as well, with emphasis on cybersecurity and diversity to meet global best practices.

Total profit: X 1.237 Bn., up significantly from X 1.013 Bn. in 2023, indicating strong performance across our main business lines: equity holdings, hospitality, and real-estate.