Electronic Arts’ stock officially stopped trading on the US stock exchange NASDAQ on August 4, 2026, bringing its run as a publicly traded company to a close.
The change follows the completion of a $55 billion buyout led primarily by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) alongside investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.
After the acquisition, EA shareholders received $210 in cash for every share they held, roughly a 25% premium over the stock’s price of around $168 before rumours of a deal first surfaced. The company has also filed paperwork with US regulators to formally remove itself from public stock reporting requirements altogether.
When a company is listed on a stock exchange like NASDAQ, it is legally required to share detailed financial information with the public every three months, and its stock can be bought and sold by anyone. Going private means none of that applies anymore. EA’s new owners have bought out all existing shareholders, the stock no longer exists, and the company answers only to its new private owners rather than public investors.
Here is how the ownership breaks down following the close:
- PIF (Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund): ~93.4% — PIF already held roughly a 9.9% stake in EA before the deal, which it rolled into the new ownership structure.
- Silver Lake (a global technology investment firm): ~5.5%
- Affinity Partners (Kushner’s firm): ~1.1%
This ranks among the largest deals the gaming industry has ever seen. In fact, it is the second-biggest acquisition in gaming history, surpassed only by Microsoft’s approximately $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023.
The deal was originally announced back in September 2025 and received shareholder approval at a special meeting in December. Regulatory clearances, including from the US government’s CFIUS national security review body and the European Commission, were obtained by July 30, 2026, slightly later than originally planned. The deal closed a few days later.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the country’s state-owned investment fund, responsible for managing government assets. As part of Vision 2030, gaming and esports have become major priorities as the kingdom looks to expand its economy beyond oil. PIF already owns stakes in other gaming and esports companies through the Savvy Games Group, including MOONTON Games, the creator of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), and ESL FACEIT Group, which launched a new regional HQ and flagship esports venue in Riyadh last year. It also owns the popular fighting video game tournament Evolution Championship Series (Evo) through investments in Qiddyia City and organiser RTS.
