The greed and leverage boys will join Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for his Vision 2030 meeting the end of October. Vision 2030 will be held at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton, the site where numerous members of the Royal family were imprisoned in a "corruption investigation."
The Vision 2030 meeting has been called "Davos in the Desert." The real 2018 Davos ended with a Vision 2030 luncheon sponsored by Saudi Arabia. It coincided with the release of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, widely known in the West for his investment acumen.
Who's November 2017 jail cell will TPG's David Bonderman occupy? Will Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman commit as much as more as the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's settlement with MBS? Will Peter Thiel's Palantir protect the power hungry players willing to use violence to shutter critics? Did Palantir protect the Turkish Saudi Embassy, the site of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance and likely murder?
How much U. S. taxpayer money can Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin send the Prince's way? Mnuchin knows how to torment and torture mortgage holders. Will he and the Crown Prince coach each other on ways to inflict physical and emotional torture?
KKR's David Petraeus knows how to harm and spy on masses of people. Surely, KKR can profit from Saudi Arabia's oppression of their people and neighbors.
The greed and leverage boys expect one thing, outsized returns and this requires outsized influence. I don't think PEUs care about optics from going to the event. In the PEU world the more distressed the investment, the better the returns.
Update 10-19-18: Many PEU boys dropped plans to attend the Saudi event.
Update 10-21-18: U.S. Intelligence has evidence of Crown Prince's involvement in Saudi journalist's execution.
Update 12-4-18: U.S. Senators heard evidence of the Crown Prince's ordering the murder of a Saudi journalist.
Update 12-28-18: Consulting giant McKinsey abandoned a Saudi partner who is yet to be released from the Crown Prince's abusive shakedown.
Update 10-24-19: Davos in Desert is back in full swing. The Khashoggi killing is old news and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man behind the murder, has money to dangle.
Update 10-9-21: The Khashoggi murder is such old news that the man behind the execution is being promoted for his public service by Crown Prince bin Salman. Further evidence that Khashoggi's brutal killing is in the rear view mirror came from bin Salman led Saudi Public Investment Fund's purchase of Newcastle United.
Update 3-4-22: The Crown Prince of Thuggery said:
"If that's the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list. If you're going to go for another operation like that, for another person, it's got to be professional and it's got to be one of the top 1,000."
Reminds me of the rapist whose defense is "the woman was too ugly to attack." Their arrogance is beyond belief.
Update 12-6-22: The U.S. court case against the Crown Prince was dismissed under the guise of sovereign immunity, something the Prince did not have at the time of the execution. The judge said his hands were tied by the Biden administration's recommendation to the court. Thugs win.
Update 10-21-23: Davos in the Desert starts this coming week. It's theme is "The New Compass." The Israel-Gaza war may impact who actually attends. The theme is meant to capture "the essence of a new global world that is rediscovering its bearings in the realm of investment." Translation: Do as the Crown Prince says and you will be paid handsomely.
