In June 2016, the PIF acquired an approximate 5% stake in Uber for $3.5 billion. in July 2015 and establishing a sizable fund with French firms in October 2015. Investment projectsīeginning in 2015 the PIF began making a number of high-profile investments, including acquiring a 38% stake in South Korea's Posco Engineering & Construction Co.

This was partially attributed to the fact that PIF had started to build a dedicated ESG (Environmental, Social and Sustainability) team. Ī 2021 report by Global SWF found that PIF's Governance, Sustainability and Resilience (GSR) score had risen by 12% to an overall score of 40% (out of 100%) that year. In the wake of a 2017 'anti-corruption' purge in Saudi Arabia, PIF obtained numerous assets that the Saudi regime had seized from rich Saudi individuals. Few know what’s going on there, including sometimes other government ministries.' As the PIF is a ministry-operated company with an overwhelming focus on domestic investments, some scholars characterize it as a 'quasi-sovereign wealth fund.' According to Steffen Hertog, a professor at the London School of Economics, the PIF 'is seen as opaque, a black box. In 2016, The Wall Street Journal noted that none of the fund's investments were named. PIF has been characterized as among the least transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world. To bolster the resources of the PIF and help in the financing of investments into foreign companies such as Uber and Tesla, the PIF received cash from the Saudi central bank, issued debt, and benefitted from the proceeds of the privatisation of Saudi state assets. The aim is to diversify government resources and the economy and to help unlock strategic sectors.

Following these changes, the Board says the fund is intended to manage a broader portfolio of current and new assets, ensuring that it is aligned with the government's Vision 2030.

As part of this process, a new PIF was appointed, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud. In March 2015, oversight of PIF was moved from the Ministry of Finance to the Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA). In July 2014, the Council of Ministers granted the PIF authority to fund new companies inside and outside the Kingdom, either independently or in cooperation with the public and private sectors, without the council's prior approval. The PIF expanded its staff from 50 in 2015 to nearly 500 in 2018. When neighboring petrostates began using their sovereign wealth funds for influence, Saudi Arabia followed them. For much of its history, the PIF was a passive entity that oversaw the Saudi state's equity in listed firms. The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) was established by the King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 1971 by Royal Decree M/24 with the stated intent to provide financing support for projects of strategic significance to the national economy.

Quicken 2015 support for ge stock fund