Amazon Founder Did Not Join Saudi’s «Davos in the Desert»

By Staff, Agencies

Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos did not attend the Saudi investment forum dubbed “Davos in the Desert” which began on Tuesday.

Neither Bezos nor Amazon’s executive managers attended.

The decision further reinforces the rift between the billionaire and the Saudi royal family which began following the murder of former Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi officials. Bezos owns the broadsheet paper.

A $1 billion deal to build Amazon data centers in Saudi Arabia stalled following Khashoggi’s murder, the Washington Post reported.

Organizers say 300 speakers from 30 countries, including US officials and heads of global banks and major sovereign wealth funds, will attend Saudi’s three-day Future Investment Initiative [FII] summit that seeks to project the kingdom as a dynamic investment destination.