The Man Who Bought the World: Rights Abuses Linked to Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund and Its Chairman, Mohammed bin Salman [Video]

While the Fund’s 2021 –2025 program strategy ostensibly lays out a robust governance and operations framework, Human Rights Watch has found that these institutional safeguards have been easily circumvented by the crown prince. Major PIF investments have involved unilateral decision-making by the crown prince, despite protests from the board of directors and professional advisors. The crown prince has circumvented governance procedures and gone straight to the king when his decisions have been opposed.

For example, in early 2020, Mohammed bin Salman wanted the PIF to buy specific stocks as the markets plummeted during the onset of the global pandemic. The crown prince went against the decision of the PIF board of directors and bypassed the PIF’s internal governance and operations framework. In an interview for a documentary on MBC, a Saudi government-backed broadcaster, PIF Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan said that the PIF board of directors voted against the move because it …