Saudi Arabia has the most profitable company in the history of the world, and $3.2 trillion to invest by 2030. Who will say no to that tidal wave of cash?

(Credit: Photo Illustration by Nicolas Ortega)

For the 100,000 or so people who jammed into VivaTech, Europe’s biggest tech trade show, in Paris earlier this summer, it was hard to miss the large green exhibition stand near the main stage. “Invest Saudi” was emblazoned on one wall, while a video monitor showed desert landscapes with gleaming robotics labs, solar farms, and skyscraper cities. “It’s a whole new world,” gushed Emon Shakoor, CEO and founder of Blossom Accelerator, a startup in Riyadh that seeds female founders.

Indeed, nearly five years have passed since the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi shocked the world, leaving many U.S. and European partners concerned about risking their reputations by doing deals in a country whose leader, the CIA later concluded, was likely complicit in the murder.