EA’s $55bn sale to Saudi-led consortium is officially complete

Electronic Arts is now a private company after its $55bn acquisition by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) closed on August 4.

The buyer group consists of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, the investment firm run by President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. PIF holds the vast majority of the company at 93.4%, with Silver Lake taking 5.5% and Affinity Partners the remaining 1.1%. Shareholders received $210 a share, a 25% premium on EA’s pre-announcement share price.

“This moment recognises the extraordinary people whose creativity, ambition and passion have made EA one of the world’s leading interactive entertainment companies,” said Andrew Wilson, chairman and CEO of Electronic Arts. “We’re entering this next chapter from a position of strength with partners who share our vision and ambition.”

Silver Lake CEO Egon Durban added that the consortium plans “to invest heavily in EA’s growth, including what AI can do to enhance game development and player experience.”

The deal also triggers a windfall for EA’s top executives, whose vested and unvested stock converts to cash on completion. Per a November 2025 SEC filing, CEO Andrew Wilson stood to receive an estimated $105.9m, with EA Entertainment & Technology president Laura Miele ($44.4m), CFO Stuart Canfield ($33.4m), and chief people officer Mala Singh and chief legal officer Jacob Schatz (each $24.6m) also cashing out significant sums.

First announced in September 2025 and approved by shareholders on 22nd December 2025, the deal is the largest leveraged buyout in history, and took roughly 10 months to clear regulators – notably faster than Microsoft’s 21-month process for its $68.7bn Activision Blizzard acquisition. The deal’s final hurdle was a US national security review (CFIUS) that ran longer than antitrust checks, pushing the close back from an original June 30 target.

The deal faced significant criticism when first announced. Industry watchers warned it could be a “total disaster” for EA, citing the roughly $20bn debt load as a risk to future investment and jobs, alongside broader concerns about a major public games company going private and about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

More than 40 US House Democrats also wrote to the FTC warning the debt could push EA toward further layoffs and cost-cutting; the company has already gone through several rounds of job cuts since the deal was first announced.

However, some sources were more bullish about what private ownership could mean for EA specifically in mobile. One EA insider argued that freedom from quarterly earnings pressure could let EA finally invest properly in mobile user acquisition, pointing to PIF’s other mobile holding, Scopely, as a template — Savvy Games Group’s backing let Scopely spend big on UA (reportedly over $1bn marketing Monopoly Go alone) and later acquire Niantic’s game portfolio for $3.5bn. EA Mobile’s own VP and group general manager, Jose “Pepe” Cantos, previously spent three years at Scopely working alongside its founders.

EA remains headquartered in Redwood City, with Andrew Wilson continuing as CEO. In its fiscal year 2026, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately $7.5bn.