Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
The meteoric rise of Saudi's powerful Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is now suspected of ordering the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The meteoric rise of Saudi's powerful Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is now suspected of ordering the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Daniel BrownOct 12, 2018, 22:49 IST
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud attends a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 27, 2018.REUTERS/Amir Levy
Advertisement
The Turkish government reportedly told US officials on Thursday that it has audio and video recordings suggesting the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed during his visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week.
Khashoggi, who lived in Virginia under self-imposed exile, was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Turkish authorities also believe that Khashoggi was killed on orders from the "highest levels" of the royal court, but bin Salman told Bloomberg last week that, "We have nothing to hide."
Few people had heard of bin Salman before his father, Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, became king in 2015.
Advertisement
King Salman, 79, subsequently elevated bin Salman, 33, to crown prince last June. And he has since been widely seen as the driving force behind an anti-corruption purge that has locked up several leading Saudi government and business leaders.
Here's the story behind bin Salman's meteoric rise.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, was born on August 31, 1985 to King Salman, and Princess Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan bin Hathleen, one of Salman's four wives.
MBS, as the millennial prince is known, was raised in a walled complex the size of a city block in Riyadh with his mother, five brothers and a staff of 50 servants, cooks, drivers and more. His father, who was then the governor of Riyadh, is one of six sons of former Saudi King Abdul-Aziz al Saud.
In 1932, after a series of civil wars, Abdul-Aziz united the kingdom under the House of Saud, one of the last remaining absolute monarchies.
MBS would later earn a bachelor's degree in law at King Saud University, where he was ranked one of the top 10 students. In 2009, after working in several firms and government positions, he was appointed special adviser to his father.
MBS would also found a non-profit group called the MiSK Foundation, which helps Saudi youth develop new businesses. In 2013, Forbes Middle East honored him as "Personality of the Year" for his work with MisK Foundation.
In January 2015, MBS was appointed Saudi's defense minister and deputy crown prince by his father, who had just been elevated to King Salman.
One of the new defense minister's first moves was to crack down on Tehran, launching the Saudi-led coalition against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen through a military campaign known as Operation Decisive Storm.
The war in Yemen has since become one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, with thousands killed, and millions on the brink of starvation. The Saudi-led coalition has been repeatedly accused of carrying out unlawful airstrikes, while the Houthis have been accused of several human rights abuses as well, including unlawful detentions and using child soldiers.
In April 2016, MBS, who also led the Saudi Council for Economic Affairs and Development, announced an ambitious initiative called Vision 2030, which sought to diversify and privatize the Saudi economy and make it less dependent on oil.
MBS also announced plans to create a $3 trillion wealth fund, partially by selling 5% of Aramco, as well as a number of social reforms, including allowing women to work more.
King Salman had initially named Mohammed bin Nayef, bin Salman's cousin, as crown prince. But in June 2017, the monarch replaced bin Nayef with bin Salman, who has since sought to consolidate his power.
In September 2017, in his new role of crown prince, MBS had more than 20 clerics and intellectuals critical of his new policies arrested over their supposed ties to foreign powers, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar.
A few months later, he launched a supposed anti-corruption purge that was largely seen as a consolidation of his own power, arresting 11 princes, four ministers and multiple powerful business leaders.
At the same time, MBS has also initiated several social reforms aimed at modernizing the kingdom, including allowing women to drive and to attend sports matches.
Last week news broke that Saudi critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who frequently wrote scathing columns that contradicted Prince Mohammed's image as a moderate reformer, had disappeared after entering the Saudi embassy in Istanbul.
MBS is now suspected of ordering the assassination of Khashoggi, who reportedly may have been killed and dismembered by 15 Saudis who flew to Istanbul and visited the consulate on the day of the journalist's disappearance.
US lawmakers and business leaders, including even the Trump administration, have now begun to distance themselves from Saudi Arabia over the alleged assassination.
