The “Davos men” are meeting this week in Saudi Arabia at an event that is nicknamed “Davos in the Desert.” It is formally the Future Investment Initiative and it takes place in Saudi Arabia.
Like Davos, the event features unelected powerful and wealthy people discussing “humanity.” As in, life for us all. Jamie Dimon from J.P. Morgan Chase will attend and many of his big banking peers. Jared Kushner is there with former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin. The two of them run a private equity firm backed by Saudi Arabia.
This is something the U.S. might otherwise participate in with official delegations like they do in Davos but not this year. The U.S. is still smarting from Saudi Arabia dismissing its plea not to cut oil production, a decision that was voted on by all OPEC+ members, not just Saudi Arabia alone. There are also rumors that the Saudi prince poked fun of President Biden’s mental capacity when they met over the summer. So the U.S. will sit this one out but that won’t stop the rest of the world’s leaders from wheeling and dealing in the desert.
