Slashdot Mirror
Saudi Arabia Almost Bought Hacking Team
itwbennett writes: If hacked emails posted by WikiLeaks are to be believed, the Saudi Arabian government came close to buying control of Italian surveillance software company Hacking Team, Philip Wilan reports. 'The negotiations were handled by Wafic Said, a Syrian-born businessman based in the U.K. who is a close friend of the Saudi royal family, and also involved Ronald Spogli, a former U.S. ambassador to Italy, who had an indirect investment in Hacking Team,' writes Wilan. The deal collapsed in early 2014.
Saudis like to flash their cash, not spend it.
I bet the "negotiation" went like this:
Said! What's the internet? Do I need to control it? Go buy me someone who can control the internet for me, then buy me the internet.
OK BOSS!
Hey, Hacking Team, I'm Said a friend of the royal Saudi family. The king dickshit wants to buy you!
How much? What do we have to do?
King dickshit has very many billions of dollars and will pay you any price! All you have to do is be our slaves, essentially.
How many billions, exactly?
Boss! They want to know how many billions you'll give them!
What? Are you still talking about that internet thing? I'm bored of that, go buy me another solid gold horse, I have a formal engagement tonight and I need to look fashionable!