More than 200 employees at Electronic Arts' Marina del Rey office are now working for a Saudi sovereign wealth fund after the Public Investment Fund closed a $55 billion leveraged buyout of the gaming giant on Tuesday, Aug. 4. It is the largest LBO in history.

The deal took EA private after 35 years on the Nasdaq and saddled the company with roughly $20 billion in debt. For Santa Monica's adjacent Silicon Beach corridor, where EA's Marina del Rey hub supports housing demand, retail spending and professional services in the broader market, the question is whether debt-driven cost discipline will eventually squeeze hiring and office space in one of the country's most expensive coastal markets.

What closed and who owns what

EA shareholders received $210 per share in cash, a 25% premium over the company's unaffected stock price of $168.32 on Sept. 25, 2025, the last trading day before the deal was announced, according to Shane the Gamer. PIF holds approximately 93% of the newly private company. Silver Lake holds about 5.5%, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners holds roughly 1.1%.

The financing structure: about $36 billion in equity and $20 billion in debt arranged by JPMorgan Chase, per Startup Fortune. Independent analysts estimate EA's leverage ratio at roughly six times gross earnings at close, a level that historically requires four to seven years of sustained cost reduction to service.

The local footprint

EA's Marina del Rey office houses Ripple Effect Studios, the former DICE LA team, along with central functions in marketing, legal, IT, quality assurance, finance and human resources, according to SM Observed. The site sits in the Del Rey/Playa Vista creative-tech cluster that feeds economic activity across Santa Monica, Venice and Marina del Rey.

CEO Andrew Wilson, who received $38.6 million in fiscal year 2026 compensation, remains in place. EA has stated there are no immediate changes planned for studios or operations.

Layoffs already hit Ripple Effect

But EA cut approximately 300 employees across its four Battlefield studios in March 2026, including Ripple Effect, Tech Times reported. The company described the cuts at the time as selective changes to better align teams around community priorities.

Those layoffs came during a brutal stretch for the gaming industry. The GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry report found one in three U.S. game workers had been laid off in the preceding two years. Of those who lost their jobs, 48% had not yet found new employment.

EA conducted two additional rounds of cuts in fiscal year 2026: one at Full Circle in February and another targeting customer support, IT and recruitment staff in June.

What to watch

"We're entering this next chapter from a position of strength with partners who share our vision and ambition," Wilson said Aug. 4 when the deal closed.

Going private removes EA from quarterly earnings calls and SEC filings. Player numbers, sales figures and studio budgets that were previously disclosed on a schedule now become discretionary.

The first commercial test arrives Oct. 10, when Battlefield 6 launches as EA's first major release under private ownership. For the 200-plus workers in Marina del Rey and the Santa Monica businesses that depend on Silicon Beach paychecks, the longer test is whether $20 billion in debt leaves room for growth on the Westside.