Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman spoke at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s signature event. He talked about the challenge of recruiting women to a male dominated private equity with its aggressive "work until you drop" culture. Contrast this with the Crown Prince's "work to make my enemies die" culture. Was the wife of Jamal Khashoggi in attendance to ask questions?
The Future Investment Initiative (FII) was held at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton, the site where the Crown Prince imprisoned members of the Royal family for a months long monetary shakedown.
Schwarzman isn't the only private equity underwriter (PEU) to speak at the Crown Prince's investment event. Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein hawked his book on leadership at the fourth edition of FII.
The capitulation to a Saudi Prince thug is broader than the greed and leverage boys.
International consulting and accounting firms have partnered with the Crown Prince's signature strategy. KPMG has the unfortunate title of "Hacking the Future."
Anything for return, eh?
Update 10-27-21: While the greed and leverage boys set their beady sights on Saudi riches the U.S. agreed to a $500 million military contract with Saudi Arabia.
Experts believe Biden has largely abandoned a campaign promise to turn the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman into a “pariah”. A whole country capitulated to the Crown Prince of Thuggery. The UN did likewise:
“Our job was to keep reminding parties of the war that you can’t just do this stuff without consequences. Now that voice is gone.”
Everybody does what they want to garner more power and money. The role of the United States in the world should not be enabler. PEU Crown Princes of Greed don't care about ethics or the common person. That has caused lots of needless suffering.
The daughter of a former Saudi Security employee said the Kingdom tried to lure her to the same embassy where Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. What would Blackstone's Schwarzan say to this scared female?
Update 10-28-21: Stars and Stripes did its part to rehab the Crown Prince's image. Companies moving their regional offices to Riyadh are PepsiCo, Siemens, Unilever, Deloitte, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes.
Update 12-31-21: At least three members of a Saudi hit squad convicted by the kingdom of murdering Jamal Khashoggi are living and working “in seven-star accommodation” inside a government-run security compound in Riyadh, according to a source connected to senior members of Saudi intelligence. Saudi money is likely behind Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, which raised over $3 billion in funds on its way to higher target.
Update 1-20-22: Kushner's Affinity Partners hired a number of Red Team members of the Trump White House as well as some PEUs to manage the investment side. Greed and thuggery, PEU style.
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 4-11-22: The Saudi Public Investment Fund, controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, invested $2 billion in Jared Kushner's new private equity firm six months after Kushner left the White House despite the screening committee voting unanimously against investing in Kushner's fledging Affinity Fund, citing the "inexperience" of its management, an asset management fee that "seems excessive," and the fact that due diligence found the firm's operations "unsatisfactory in all aspects."
Update 6-6-22: The Shark went name calling golfers who chose not to affiliate with a Saudi backed golf tour. Greg Norman called Jack Nicklaus a "hypocrite" and.Rory McIlory "brainwashed".
Greg Norman, the public face of the breakaway LIV Golf series (sponsored by Saudi Crown Prince MBS' Public Investment Fund), says the executives and agents who currently run golf “are conspiring against LIV to protect an antiquated system that prevents golfers from realizing their own power and worth amid a global movement of athlete empowerment.”
As for antiquated social systems in Saudi Arabia that don't involve the murder of a U.S. journalist:
Reports emerged that the women activists who pressed for the policy change had been arrested and imprisoned. As of this morning, 13 are reported to have been arrested; most are women. Apart from the driving issue, they have campaigned against so-called guardianship rules which require Saudi women to receive permission from a male relative before making many life decisions, like traveling.
Update 9-14-22: Trump's Sterling, Virginia golf course will host LIV Golf in May 2023. It will be the third LIV event at a Trump owned course.
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.
