Speakers snub Saudi’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ over missing journalist
BUSINESS leaders and other high-profile delegates due to attend and speak at Saudi Arabia’s so-called “Davos in the Desert” event are dropping out following the disappearance of a prominent government critic.
Turkish officials claim Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist who lived in self-imposed exile, was murdered in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul after entering the building last week.
The affair is overshadowing Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative (FII), which is due to kick off in Riyadh in two weeks and is being co-hosted by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
It is intended to showcase the kingdom’s modernisation plans and attract foreign investment. US broadcaster CNN has pulled out of the event, as has Viacom’s boss Bob Bakish.
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, will not attend “unless a substantially different set of facts emerges”, while venture capitalist Steve Case and HP executive Joanna Popper, who were both billed as speakers, have also dropped out, alongside Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-shiong. Sir Richard Branson has put on hold his directorships of two Red Sea tourism projects and halted talks with PIF over its proposed investment in Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit.
Speakers at this year’s FII include Siemens’ chief executive Joe Kaeser, Blackrock’s Larry Fink and the London Stock Exchange boss David Schwimmer.
A Blackrock spokesman said it was “monitoring the situation”, when asked if Mr Fink still planned to go.
The London Stock Exchange, which earlier this year tried to woo Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco to list its shares in the UK before the plans were abandoned over the summer, declined to comment.
President Donald Trump has said US authorities are investigating the case and lawmakers have threatened to take action, but he has fallen short of blocking arm sales to the Saudi government. Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, confirmed that he would attend.
Others due to speak include John Flint, HSBC chief; Simon Segars, the chief of ARM Holdings; Nick Moakes, of Wellcome Trust; City of London executive Catherine Mcguinness; and Adam Glazer, who is part of the Glazer family that owns Manchester United.