Riyadh is investing widely to wean itself off oil: but the dark allegations about the fate of dissident Jamal Khashoggi put its ambitious economic plan in peril
When Mohammed bin Salman was touring the UK and US earlier this year, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia – and its de facto ruler – could have relied almost exclusively on businesses backed by the kingdom’s money.
Landing in London, “MBS” might have dispensed with his chauffeur-driven car, travelling into the capital by Uber, while his aides finalised his itinerary on smartphones powered with chips designed by Cambridge-based ARM Holdings. After glad-handing bank chiefs in the City, any investment plans they discussed could have been further developed using cloud office app Slack.