Monday, April 25, 2016

"Behold, the world’s most powerful millennial"

Matt Phillips writing at Quartz:
Plenty of millennials believe they know exactly how the world should be run.

One is actually doing it.

In a far-reaching interview broadcast on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, 30-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman effectively cemented his status as the world’s most powerful millennial. Known as MbS, the deputy crown prince outlined plans to overhaul the Kingdom’s oil reliant economy, including selling off a 5% stake in the crown jewels of the Saudi economy—Saudi Aramco, the national oil company.

The fact that prince Mohammed—who is second-in-line for the throne now held by his father, King Salman—detailed the economic overhaul underscores his unusually powerful position. A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article described his rise to power in this way:
In January 2015. Prince Mohammed’s father, Salman, assumed the throne, named his son the deputy crown prince—second in line—and gave him unprecedented control over the state oil monopoly, the national investment fund, economic policy, and the Ministry of Defense. That’s a larger portfolio than that of the crown prince, the only man ahead of him on the succession chart. Effectively, Prince Mohammed is today the power behind the world’s most powerful throne....
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See also Saturday's "Some Thoughts On Saudi Arabia's Relationship With The United States"