Saudi Power Broker Pitches Kingdoms AI Pivot to Wall Street

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia’s annual investment showpiece kicks off this week against a steady drumbeat of headlines on the kingdom’s strained finances: The deficit has grown as oil prices persist below levels needed to balance the budget, forcing spending to be reprioritized and parts of Crown Prince  Mohammed bin Salman’s trillion-dollar ambitions to be scaled back. 

At the center of it all will be Richard Attias, who has spent the past decade courting investors to back the kingdom’s economic transformation. The Moroccan-born power broker is ensconced at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s global outreach, often pictured with Prince Mohammed, Yasir Al Rumayyan, who runs the $1 trillion Public Investment Fund, and even US President Donald Trump.

“The show must go on,” he said on the sidelines of last year’s Future Investment Initiative that opened under the shadow of war. Tensions shrouding the region may have ebbed, but this year’s event presents challenges of its own — mainly the kingdom’s pivot from being an exporter of capital to a seeker of foreign cash. 

In an interview in Riyadh, Attias credited the FII with playing a crucial role in driving investment, generating as much as $190 billion in deals since its 2017 launch. He characterized the kingdom’s growing emphasis on domestic investment as “extremely fair” and said financiers’ interest in the country remains strong.

“We didn’t create FII for people to come, take the money and run,” Attias said. “We created FII for people to understand where the money should go.”

Wall Street is paying close attention. This year’s forum will lean more heavily into technology and artificial intelligence, two industries central to the crown prince’s diversification plan. It will feature marquee names, including Blackstone Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman and BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, who are both vying to invest billions of dollars with Saudi Arabia’s new AI firm, Humain. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon and others will be eying opportunities in the kingdom’s emerging private credit market.

The Davos Rival

About a decade ago, officials in Riyadh wanted an event to rival Davos as part of efforts to lure foreign investors into an economy long fueled by oil. They turned to Attias, a former World Economic Forum insider, who helped the kingdom set up FII. At its inaugural 2017 edition, MBS — newly elevated as crown prince — laid out his vision for Neom, a planned $500 billion city on the Red Sea that signaled the kingdom’s outsize ambitions.

Eight years later, Neom’s costs have ballooned to an estimated $1.5 trillion, and progress has slowed. The ninth edition of the FII comes amid growing scrutiny of those projects and renewed doubts over whether Saudi Arabia can sustain its breakneck development agenda. Even the local stock market — once a regional bright spot — has struggled, with recent listings underwhelming.

For Attias, whose eponymous firm counts the kingdom and FII as key clients, the stakes are uniquely personal. Richard Attias & Associates produces dozens of events worldwide in addition to the Saudi confab, and is now preparing for a listing that could earn its founder millions. But those fortunes are tied to the success of the Saudi story Attias helped craft.

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The event typically attracts thousands of people each year. Since 2023, attendance requires a $15,000 annual membership with the FII Institute, a nonprofit that manages the Riyadh-based conference and the wider brand. Attias describes the fee as “modest” compared with global peers such as Davos or the Milken Institute Global Conference, where tickets start at around $25,000.

Although often dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” Attias rejects the comparison. “Number one, we’re not in Davos, and number two, we’re not in the desert,” he said. “Riyadh today is one of the most developed cities in the world.”

In any case, FII has now become an integral part of the kingdom’s broader investment strategy and is expanding its global reach. Attias is helping set up a  satellite edition of the conference in Tokyo, on the back of a turn in Miami that marked one of Trump’s first public appearances after being sworn in for a second term.

Saudi Arabia’s success snagging Trump to headline the gathering spotlighted the close relationship between the two sides and their growing financial ties. The crown prince is set to meet Trump in the White House in November, in his first visit to the US since 2018. 

This year’s line-up features dignitaries from about 20 countries ranging from China’s vice president to the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, showing how the kingdom balances competing global interests. Gulf governments are “quite adept at working both ends of the political economy spectrum to advance their interests on the global stage,” said Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. 

The event also places Attias at the highest echelons of power in Saudi Arabia. He says he communicates with world leaders via WhatsApp, and that Crown Prince Mohammed “trusts totally what FII is doing.”

For all its successes, the FII has faced its share of crises.

The 2018 murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi caused top business leaders, including Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon and Richard Branson to distance themselves from the event, citing human rights concerns.

Attias said that year’s edition still drew more delegates than before, buoyed by participants from Russia, China, the Middle East and Africa. By 2019, most who had shunned the event had returned, lured by the promise of mega-deals tied to the Vision 2030 economic transformation agenda. 

Many, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., have since deepened ties to the kingdom. The bank underwrote a $20 billion debt facility to help investors including the PIF take Electronic Arts Inc. private in a $55 billion deal last month, and secured a regional headquarters license in Saudi Arabia days before FII. Chief Executive Dimon is scheduled to speak at this year’s event.

Global Player

Financier Ken Moelis was among dealmakers who stuck it out in 2018. His firm landed major mandates, including Aramco’s record $29 billion IPO, earning him the nickname “Ken of Arabia.” Moelis & Co. is now advising Attias’s firm on its planned listing, expected to involve about 30% of the company’s shares. Both Attias and Sanabil, an investment arm of the PIF, are considering selling part of their stakes.

Attias said he expects Sanabil to “make good money” from the offering but insists the goal is to institutionalize the business rather than cash out. He also hinted at the possibility of a future secondary listing. “We have offices in Dubai, Riyadh, New York, Paris and Africa,” he said. “So we’re a global player.”

RA&A has evolved beyond producing the FII, which now accounts for only about 10% of its revenue, and organizes more than 50 conferences a year. Ahmad Al-Husseini serves as CEO, though Attias’s personal imprint remains. His wife Cecilia — previously married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy — and daughter both work at the firm.

At the FII Institute, Attias took over as acting CEO after Penny Richards, formerly of the Aspen Institute, resigned just months into the job. A permanent successor is expected by year-end.

“It’s not easy to follow the traces of someone who has a very strong fingerprint,” Attias said, acknowledging that his deep involvement makes succession harder.

The intensifying competition for events across the Gulf presents another challenge. Dubai plans to launch Future Finance Week with the Institute of International Finance in May 2026. The regional circuit already includes Abu Dhabi Finance Week in December and Doha’s Qatar Economic Forum, a pre-summer fixture. 

While these events will mean more opportunities for firms that help organize them, it will also mean more competition for existing conferences, including FII. 

Attias, though, remains confident FII has carved out its own space. “I am told by many people, ‘Richard, give me the dates of FII for the next three to four years,’” he said.

The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.

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