How Saudi's Mohammed bin Salman went from promising reformer to tainted heir accused of plotting Khashoggi's murder
Exactly a year ago, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, was on top of the world. Or more specifically, he was on stage at the first “Davos in the Desert” investment summit in Riyadh, happily discussing his plans for a $500 billion (£385 billion) new Saudi mega city. Western politicians and international business leaders flocked to hear the young prince describe his vision of a reformed Saudi economy and of a gentler society freed from the grip of hardline clerics. Today, Crown Prince Mohammed at the centre of an international storm over allegations that he ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The same global elites who raced to Riyadh last year are nowhere to be seen this year. The conference hall at the Ritz-Carlton hotel remains packed but few of the attendees are from major US or European firms. The fall from international favour is the latest dramatic turn in the life of the 33-year-old heir to the throne, who has gone in
