One year ago, Saudi Arabia did something rare since its founding in 1932: it opened its tent wide to the world. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the then-32-year-old heir to the throne, invited thousands of financiers, executives, journalists and television cameras to the Future Investment Initiative, a three-day conference in which he presented a new, market-friendly and more socially liberal Saudi Arabia.
Less than two weeks later MbS, as he is known, jailed hundreds of fellow royals, government officials and others over corruption charges with no attempt at due process or transparency. The Ritz-Carlton roundup, named for the venue in which he held the conference and then incarcerated his opponents, was the first of a series of actions that took the shine off the crown prince’s promises. They culminated in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul – an act alleged to be state-sponsored.
Breakingviews has been on top of this story, writing columns from the 2017 gathering, covering the kingdom’s struggle to get the stock offering of Saudi Aramco off the ground and analysing the government’s attempts to raise capital and put it to work as part of MbS’s Vision 2030 economic reforms. As news of the brutal killing of Khashoggi emerged, Breakingviews was quick to highlight the reputational and other risks for American and European companies in associating with Riyadh.
While this story continues to unfold, we have compiled some of the top views published on the matter since last year’s investment summit. It makes for sobering reading, both because of Khashoggi’s death and the possible derailment of Saudi’s development, economically and socially. We will continue to update this page as we publish new insights.
Sincerely
Rob Cox
Global Editor
CONTENTS
Cox: Aramco clouds Saudi’s coming-out party
Kool-Aid on tap in Saudi Arabian desert
Saudi utopia plan is so bonkers it just might work
Cox: Saudi crown prince revealed his magic number
Ritz roundup is dark side of grand Saudi ambition
MbS gains either way from Saudi anti-graft endgame
Saudi risks squandering looming oil boon
Saudi’s Aramco plan B is too clever by half
Saudi’s fund manager-in-chief veers off-piste
Tesla is risky vehicle for Saudi reform drive
Saudi’s investment fund: the view from 2023
“Davos in the Desert 2” faces a sophomore slump
Saudi adviser panel may unwind faster than Trump’s
Cox: Global finance has a Saudi Arabia problem
Wall Street shows Trump the way on Saudi Arabia
Riyadh is clouding Masayoshi Son’s $100 bln vision
Saudi fail is fresh win for U.S. banks over Europe
Oil makes Saudi Arabia slippery sanctions target