The article reports that amid ongoing negotiations aimed at a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia made a $1.5 billion investment bid into PGA Tour Enterprises which was ultimately rejected. This move is seen as an attempt by a state-backed fund from an authoritarian regime to expand its economic influence in culturally significant sectors.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is sponsoring the FII Institute Priority Summit in Miami from February 19 to 21, 2025—a high-profile event critics condemn for whitewashing the kingdom’s egregious human rights record and bolstering an authoritarian regime’s image.

A Human Rights Watch report highlights that the Public Investment Fund collaborated with Morgan Stanley to acquire a 36% stake in Saudi Binladin Group, a company with a record of migrant labor abuses in Saudi Arabia's giga-projects.

A Human Rights Watch report alleges that projects funded by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia have led to abuses affecting marginalized communities including migrant workers, rural residents, and poor working-class individuals. The report, published on November 23, 2024, implicates the fund in contributing to conditions that undermine labor rights and human dignity.

A Human Rights Watch report from November 2024 accuses Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) of benefiting from and facilitating human rights abuses, including forced evictions, migrant worker exploitation, arbitrary detentions, and the whitewashing of government abuses under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s control.

A Human Rights Watch report accuses the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia of engaging in practices that facilitate human rights abuses. The report details the expropriation of Saudi companies, acquisition of an airline implicated in transporting assassins linked to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, forced displacement related to the NEOM project, and use of legal and contractual measures to silence dissent, all of which compound concerns over transparency and worker rights.

A Human Rights Watch report published on November 20, 2024, alleges that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses including forced evictions, arbitrary detentions, and involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's control.

A Human Rights Watch report alleges that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is complicit in human rights abuses domestically and internationally, including politically motivated expropriations, corrupt practices, forced displacement of indigenous communities, and the use of non-disparagement clauses in contracts linked to controversial deals such as the acquisition of Sky Prime Aviation associated with the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

On January 12, 2024, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia responded to subpoenas from a Senate subcommittee by urging lawmakers to retract them and by filing lawsuits in Saudi Arabia against its U.S.-based consultants. This legal maneuver was seen as an attempt to block congressional oversight and conceal documents related to its investments, including its high-profile involvement in LIV Golf and related merger discussions.

PIF-backed projects such as NEOM and the Jeddah Central Development Project have been linked to forced evictions, demolitions of established communities, and violent confrontations with local residents. These actions have led to severe human rights abuses, undermining worker safety, disrupting community life, and exacerbating social inequality.

During the 2017 anti-corruption campaign, actions led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulted in forced asset transfers from detained individuals and bypassed established PIF governance processes. Official documents and subsequent correspondence show that urgent royal directives were used to transfer companies and assets without due process, reflecting a consolidation of state power and a disregard for accountability and human rights.