Following approval from antitrust authorities, Electronic Arts has changed hands for $55 billion. The company was privatized overnight; the new owners are Saudi Arabia and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Update from August 5, 2026:
Now it’s official. As of the close of trading on Tuesday, August 4, Electronic Arts is no longer a publicly traded company. All shareholders have been paid out; the company has been privatized by a group of investors consisting of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), the investment firm of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the private equity firm Silver Lakefor $55 billion.
It is the largest leveraged buyout of all time. Saudi Arabia holds the lion’s share of the new ownership structure;the PIF controls over 93 percent of EA’s shares.
EA itself stated in a press release that the acquisition would provide the publisherwith long-term capital, business expertise, and strategic support
. This will enable the companyto further accelerate its own creativity and innovation and thus help shape the future of entertainment.
However, many fans and players are critical of the new ownership structure. More on this below.
Original report from July 31, 2026:
The end of EA as we know it is sealed. According to a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 30, 2026, the publisher expects to suspend trading of its shares in just a few days. The delisting is the company’s final step toward a takeover by private owners.
A consortium of investors consisting of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), the investment firm of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the private equity firm Silver Lake had offered approximately $55 billion in September 2025 to purchase all shares of Electronic Arts and take the company private. Investors are set to receive $210 per share.
EA’s management and shareholders had already approved the offer in late summer 2025; in recent months, the deal has been thoroughly reviewed by various international competition authorities, including the European Commission. This is because a corporate takeover of this magnitude significantly disrupts the market and has the potential to substantially alter the competitive landscape.
All legal hurdles cleared
In the specific case of EA, however, the authorities have reached a fairly unanimous conclusion that the sale of the company is unlikely to pose any antitrust issues, since this is not a merger of two publishers—as was the case with Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, for example—but simply a change in ownership. In other words, from the hands of the current shareholders to those of the new investors.
According to thelatest report from EA’s Vice President Jacob Schatzto the securities regulator, the company has nowcleared all remaining legal hurdles for the acquisition.
Competition authorities in both the EU and the U.S. have approved the change of control at EA. Now the acquisition just needs to be finalized. EA management expects the shares to be delisted at the close of trading on August 4, 2026; Electronic Arts will thus end its run as a publicly traded companyafter 36 years.
As a result of the acquisition, EA will become a private company and will no longer be required to report its financials to the public—how fitting that the salary bonus of Andrew Wilson, the EA CEO who orchestrated the deal, rose by a whopping $8 million again this year.Among other reasons, management cited the strong performance ofBattlefield 6.
The EA Deal: Background on the New Owners
In September 2025, it was announced that EA would be acquired by a consortium of investors for approximately 47 billion euros and would thus be privatized. EA’s new owners include the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF and Affinity Partners, the investment firm led by Jared Kushner. Saudi Arabia faces accusations of political and human rights repression, such as the persecution of activists and journalists. There is also deep-rooted discrimination against minorities. Freedom of speech is systematically suppressed. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has repeatedly faced criticism for dubious real estate deals, secret contacts with the Russian government, and allegations of corruption. Kushner also maintains close ties with Saudi Crown Prince and PIF Chairman Mohammed bin Salman.
What does this mean for EA’s future?
Although EA has announced that the company’s values will remain the same under the new owners, the acquisition is already having a significant impact. Due to the Saudi Arabian government’s stance on the rights of women and the LGBTQ community, several content creators ended their collaboration with EA’s in-house creator network for the life simulation game *The Sims* this fall.
And when it comes to monetization, the acquisition is already casting a dark shadow. Just recently, EA announced a new platform for advertisers to place ads directly in sports games such as EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, College Football, and Skate, as well as The Sims. EA desperately needs the money, because following the takeover by the investor consortium, the company has agigantic mountain of debt totaling $20 billionto pay off.
The buyers are financing the takeover with debt (a so-calledleveraged buyout
). They don’t actually own the money; instead, they’re borrowing it from banks and other investors. Electronic Arts must repay these loans itself over the coming years using the profits it generates. Managementis, in a sense, gambling on good profit prospects with this acquisitionand is putting the fate of all its studios and developers on the line.
If EA fails to meet its investors’ financial expectations, the publisher will likely have to sell some of its brands or business units. Accordingly, the company is looking for ways to monetize its games even more effectively—so we’re unlikely to escape even more aggressive microtransactions in the coming years.
