Saudi Government’s Investment Fund Is Bleeding Western Talent: Report
Top execs exiting Silicon Valley’s biggest investor, citing crown prince’s “micromanagement.”
Faisal Nasser/Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s government investment arm—which boasts a $200 billion economic development fund and is the single largest investor in Silicon Valley—has lost three of its top Western executives in the past year alone and is struggling to recruit new talent, The Wall Street Journal reports. The head of the public investment fund’s legal team, its chief of public investments, and a private-equity associate all quit this year after less than a year and a half on the job, citing micromanagement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a nebulous investment strategy, and cultural differences between Western and Eastern workplaces. Recruiters told the Journal that the overwhelming backlash against the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has made it much harder to find and keep talented workers. As a result, sources said, the Tesla and Uber funder has been repeatedly outmatched intellectually when negotiating deals.
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