A Tidal Wave of Saudi Money

Is Saudi Arabia a repressive monarchy or a land of opportunity? It's both. And that creates a conundrum for business and world leaders.

- VIVIENNE WALT

For the 100,000 or so people who jammed into VivaTech, Europe's biggest tech trade show, in Paris earlier this summer, it was hard to miss the large green exhibition stand near the main stage. "Invest Saudi" was emblazoned on one wall, while a video monitor showed desert landscapes with gleaming robotics labs, solar farms, and skyscraper cities. "It's a whole new world," gushed Emon Shakoor, CEO and founder of Blossom Accelerator, a startup in Riyadh that seeds female founders.

Indeed, nearly five years have passed since the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shocked the world, leaving many U.S. and European partners concerned about risking their reputations by doing deals in a country whose leader, the CIA later concluded, was likely complicit in the murder.

"The situation was unfortunate, to be honest," said Abdulaziz Alhouti, 33, chief investment officer of Jahez Group, a $1.7 billion food-delivery company in Riyadh that launched two years before Khashoggi's death in 2018. But, he told Fortune, standing amid the crowds at VivaTech, those dark days have passed. "It's something that is behind," said the former investment banker. "And now we need to, as a culture, as a people, move away from it."

Saudi entrepreneurs are intent on doing just that: moving on and making money. And it appears to be working; investors are back in force. "We're in a golden age," said Shakoor, 29, who returned home to Riyadh after four years of studying and surfing at the University of California, San Diego.