Khashoggi case: The no-shows at Saudi investment conference
Khashoggi case: The no-shows at Saudi investment conference
A list of the corporate bigwigs that have boycotted an investment conference in Saudi Arabia 23-25 October over the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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The conference is organised by Saudi Arabia's mammoth sovereign wealth fund [AFP]
Corporate bigwigs are pulling out of an investment conference in Saudi Arabia on 23-25 October concerned by the alleged murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the risk of losing business with the kingdom.
The conference is organised by Saudi Arabia's mammoth sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, and has been billed as a showcase for the economic reforms of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But Turkish charges that Khashoggi was killed by a hit squad in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October have shredded the list of VIPs attending.
As of Monday, organisers had yet to release a revised lineup of speakers after a flood of defections last week.
Here is an updated list of no-shows:
Politics/International institutions
- US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
- French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire
- British International Trade Secretary Liam Fox
- Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra
- International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde
Finance
- HSBC chief executive John Flint
- Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam
- MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga
- BNP Paribas chairman Jean Lemierre
- Societe Generale CEO Frederic Oudea
- JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
- BlackRock chief Larry Fink
- Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman
- Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters
- London Stock Exchange CEO David Schwimmer
- Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser
Industry/Technology
- Ford chairman Bill Ford
- Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi
- British billionaire Richard Branson
- Thrive CEO Ariana Huffington
- Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene
Media
- Viacom CEO Bob Bakish
In addition, multiple media groups have withdrawn executives or journalists who were due to join panels at the conference, including CNN, Bloomberg, The Economist, The New York Times, CNBC and the Financial Times.
This article was updated on 22 October 2018.
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