Two hundred princes and businessmen sat under guard inside the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton in November 2017. Guards had already blocked the exits, and phones were confiscated at the door. A 32-year-old royal named Mohammed bin Salman had ordered it himself. By morning, Saudi Arabia’s old power structure was gone. That single night captures how MBS operates: fast, ruthless, and utterly convinced that the ends justify the means. Few modern leaders have moved this quickly from obscurity to absolute control. Fewer still have paired sweeping social reform with brutal repression in the same breath. Understanding Mohammed bin Salman means holding both realities at once, because he insists on being seen that way himself.
Who Is Mohammed bin Salman?
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Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud was born in Riyadh on August 31, 1985. In fact, he is the seventh son of King Salman. His mother, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain, was Salman’s third wife. As a result, he entered royal life as one prince among dozens, not as an obvious heir.
He earned a law degree from King Saud University in 2007, graduating second in his class. Afterward, he spent several years in the private sector before joining his father’s staff. Then, in 2009, at just 24, he became a special advisor to Salman, then governor of Riyadh Province.
- Born: August 31, 1985, in Riyadh
- Education: Law degree, King Saud University
- Current titles: Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia
- Known internationally as: MBS
From Palace Aide to Power Broker
Mohammed’s rise accelerated because two crown princes died in quick succession. When Crown Prince Sultan died in 2011, Salman became second deputy prime minister. Consequently, Mohammed became his father’s private advisor. When Crown Prince Nayef died the next year, Salman moved up again, and so did his son. By 2013, Mohammed headed the Crown Prince’s Court and held ministerial rank. Then, in January 2015, King Abdullah died and Salman finally ascended the throne. Overnight, Mohammed became defense minister at age 29, one of the youngest in the world. His first major decision as minister proved telling. By then, Houthi rebels had seized Yemen’s capital and pushed out the government. Mohammed launched a coalition air campaign against them within weeks, largely without full coordination across Saudi security services. He expected a quick victory. Instead, the war dragged on for years and became one of the defining controversies of his career.
The Night That Changed the Kingdom
In June 2017, King Salman deposed his nephew Muhammad bin Nayef and named Mohammed crown prince instead. As a result, it broke decades of succession tradition. Within months, Mohammed moved to eliminate anyone who might challenge him. That November, he launched what he called an anti-corruption campaign. Roughly 200 princes, ministers, and billionaires were detained at the Ritz-Carlton, including business titan Al-Waleed bin Talal. Detainees were later described as beaten, deprived of sleep, and threatened with financial ruin unless they surrendered assets. As a result, seventeen required hospitalization. Saudi authorities eventually claimed the sweep recovered roughly $800 billion in cash and assets. However, independent verification of that figure has proven difficult. Regardless of the exact number, the effect was unmistakable. Every rival power base in the kingdom fell in a single stroke.
Vision 2030 and the Bet on a Post-Oil Economy
Mohammed’s signature project is Vision 2030, unveiled in April 2016. Essentially, it aims to wean the Saudi economy off oil through tourism, entertainment, technology, and sport. A $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund now bankrolls the shift. Officials financed part of it through a partial sale of Saudi Aramco shares. The most audacious piece of Vision 2030 is Neom. Mohammed announced this futuristic Red Sea development back in 2017. Specifically, the plan included “The Line,” a 170-kilometer linear city powered entirely by renewable energy. However, the project has since been scaled back dramatically. An internal audit reportedly found evidence of deliberate manipulation by project managers, and new contracts largely dried up by 2025.
Other ventures fared better, however. The high-speed Haramain railway between Mecca and Medina opened in 2018. That same year, tourist visas, once unavailable to most foreigners, finally launched. Cinemas reopened after a 35-year ban, and mixed-gender concerts became common in major cities.
Social Reform, Measured Carefully
Mohammed has, in fact, pushed real changes into Saudi daily life. In 2018, he lifted the decades-old ban on women driving. He weakened parts of the male guardianship system, letting women over 21 travel without a guardian’s permission. Businesses no longer require male sign-off to open. At the same time, he curtailed the religious police, stripping their power to pursue and detain suspects. Flogging was abolished as a legal punishment in 2020. Yet authorities arrested the very activists who campaigned for these reforms. Loujain al-Hathloul was detained months before the driving ban was even lifted. As a result, critics call this pattern “genderwashing”: rebranding the state as progressive without shifting real power toward citizens. Human rights groups maintain that repression has intensified under Mohammed’s rule, even as headline freedoms expanded. Because both trends are documented, any honest account of his record has to include them together.
The Khashoggi Killing
In October 2018, journalist and Mohammed critic Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect marriage paperwork. However, he never walked out. Turkish officials say he was killed and dismembered inside by a team linked to the crown prince’s inner circle. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Mohammed ordered the operation. Later, a declassified 2021 US intelligence report reached the same finding. Mohammed has denied personal knowledge of the killing and blames rogue operators instead. Still, he accepted broad responsibility because it happened “under his watch.” Even so, the fallout was severe but ultimately survivable for him politically. Senator Lindsey Graham, for instance, said Mohammed had gone “full gangster.” Meanwhile, President Trump called the Saudi response one of the worst cover-ups in history. Even so, his administration shielded Mohammed from lasting consequences. By 2022, Mohammed’s new role as prime minister granted him formal immunity in US courts.
Yemen, Iran, and a Region Reshaped
Ultimately, Mohammed’s foreign policy runs on the same instinct that drove the Ritz-Carlton purge: act first, absorb the consequences later. The Yemen war he launched in 2015 became one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Tens of thousands of children died from starvation between 2015 and 2019. Meanwhile, regional rivalries have shifted just as sharply. In 2017, Mohammed led a blockade against Qatar, only to reconcile with Doha by 2021. He once branded Turkey part of a “triangle of evil,” then rebuilt relations with Ankara within a few years. In 2023, China brokered a surprise deal restoring Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties.
However, that thaw with Iran did not survive 2026. According to The Washington Post and The New York Times, Mohammed repeatedly pressed Trump to strike Iran. He reportedly warned that delay would make Tehran more dangerous. Trump’s forces attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, in what is now called the 2026 Iran war. Saudi Arabia has officially denied lobbying for the strikes, though multiple US outlets maintain their reporting stands.
Mohammed bin Salman and the Sports and Culture Push
Since 2017, Mohammed has poured unprecedented sums into global sport, entertainment, and tourism. Consequently, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund now owns major stakes in golf, football, boxing, and esports. The kingdom secured hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup and the 2029 Asian Games. He has framed this spending as economic necessity, not vanity. Diversifying an economy, he argued in 2023, means building mining, manufacturing, logistics, and tourism together. Sport, in his view, supplies the “calendar” that draws global attention. Whether the strategy pays off financially remains an open question, particularly as Neom’s troubles show how ambition can outrun execution.
Global Alliances Under Mohammed bin Salman
Mohammed has built an unusually flexible set of alliances, refusing to lock Saudi Arabia into any single camp. Notably, he strengthened ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia well before the Ukraine war, coordinating oil policy through OPEC+. He also deepened trade with China, which now buys more Saudi oil than any other nation. In 2019, he even defended Beijing’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims. With Washington, the relationship has swung between warmth and open hostility depending on the administration in office. Trump’s 2025 Middle East tour produced a new strategic economic partnership. Mohammed personally greeted him at the airport, breaking from 2017 protocol. Under Biden, by contrast, ties cooled sharply after Mohammed refused to raise oil output during the Ukraine war.
- Russia: Coordinated oil policy since 2016; expanded ties after Western sanctions
- China: Comprehensive strategic partnership since 2022; missile technology cooperation
- United States: Alternating cooperation and tension across four presidencies
- Israel: Normalization talks ongoing, conditioned on Palestinian statehood
Life Beyond the Palace
Mohammed married his first cousin, Sara bint Mashour, in 2008. Since then, the couple has had five children. In 2022, The Economist reported that he beat Sara so severely once that she needed medical treatment. Saudi officials offered little public comment on the allegation.
Indeed, his personal wealth and spending have drawn scrutiny for years. He purchased the yacht Serene for roughly €500 million in 2015. Two years later, he reportedly bought Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for $450 million, though Saudi officials dispute that account. Away from business, associates describe him as an avid video gamer who also enjoys hiking and diving.
Mohammed bin Salman: The Man Who Will Likely Rule for Decades
Mohammed bin Salman is still only in his forties. As a result, his influence over Saudi Arabia could extend for another 40 years. Few global leaders carry that kind of runway. The king’s health has receded further from public view. Meanwhile, Mohammed already functions as the kingdom’s true head of state.
His legacy remains unsettled and will likely stay contested for years. Supporters point to a modernizing economy, a more open culture, and a more assertive foreign policy. Critics point to Khashoggi, Yemen, the Ritz-Carlton detentions, and a widening web of alleged assassination plots against dissidents abroad. Both accounts are documented, and both will define how history eventually judges him.
