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Speaker 1: Also media, Welcome back to Behind the Bastards, a podcast

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Speaker 1: about Mohammad ben Salmon for this week and next week

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Speaker 1: with my former colleague and current friend David Belle. David, Hello, Hi,

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Speaker 1: where could the good and bad people on the Internet

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Speaker 1: find you?

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Speaker 2: You know, before that, I realized I don't think I've

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Speaker 2: said thank you for having me on.

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Speaker 3: I didn't say that.

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Speaker 2: Well, you don't, I know, it's just the thing you

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Speaker 2: say on podcasts, and it occurred to me. I was like,

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Speaker 2: I didn't even say that anyway, thank you for having

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Speaker 2: me on. You you asked where you could find me

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Speaker 2: Google gamefully Unemployed g A M E. F U L

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Speaker 2: Y Unemployed as a movie podcast mostly in TV. Or

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Speaker 2: watch some more news hosted by Cody Johnston news show

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Speaker 2: like a talking head news show.

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Speaker 3: I'm the head writer over there. What he is? I'm

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Speaker 3: I'm Boston people around.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you're the You're the you're the king over there.

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Speaker 1: Just thought she had been Solomon kind of is in

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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia and Dave, I would thank you for being

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Speaker 1: the guests, but actually I'm going to thank you for

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Speaker 1: watching my cat for half a year that one time

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Speaker 1: figure of an ass than being on a podcast.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that cat. That cat left a scar on me.

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Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure I still have it somewhere.

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Speaker 1: That's good. She left some on me too. She was

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Speaker 1: a great cat.

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Speaker 3: Yeah she she got a bite on her.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, she got a bite on her.

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Speaker 2: She also got along with my cat, way more than

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Speaker 2: my current second cat gets along.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: She.

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Speaker 1: She and Kenton were best friends for well again, like

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Speaker 1: half a year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So. By the time Prince Mohammed ben Salmon was born

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Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty five, the Saudi state had reached a

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Speaker 1: level of what we might call catastrophic dependence on oil revenues.

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Speaker 1: ARAMCO accounted for roughly eighty percent of state spending, which

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Speaker 1: meant that any serious drop in oil prices rendered the

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Speaker 1: state insolvent, living off its savings in order to continue spending.

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Speaker 1: Nearly two thirds of Saudi men were government employees, right,

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Speaker 1: And that doesn't mean they're working. It just means they're

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Speaker 1: government employees. Most of them aren't doing real jobs, you know.

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Speaker 1: Most of the state jobs that they have are lifetime

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Speaker 1: gigs that exist as a form of welfare. They're a

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Speaker 1: way for the House of Sound to bribe enough of

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Speaker 1: the free male population to ensure there's never too much

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Speaker 1: unrest because.

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Speaker 2: Any lose your job, Like I would be fine with

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Speaker 2: a government then I guess you could call it bribing,

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Speaker 2: but just paid us all to live. But that's what's

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Speaker 2: happening here, right, It's just enough people so that they

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Speaker 2: can screw other people.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and they have to bring other people into the

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Speaker 1: country to really fuck over, like to have an underclass

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Speaker 1: that they can fuck over enough, you know. And this

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Speaker 1: state of affairs leads to some complications. Because so many

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Speaker 1: jobs are lifetime things, giving raises to certain classes of

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Speaker 1: jobs is financially untenable. If you give like everyone who

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Speaker 1: has this job a raise, that's a meaningful percentage of

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Speaker 1: the country, and you just can't afford to do that

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Speaker 1: because you have to keep that raise going for everyone

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Speaker 1: who holds that job forever. Instead, the government gets into

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Speaker 1: a habit of adding benefits to jobs, which are salary

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Speaker 1: bumps for employees who have specific skills, like classes of

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Speaker 1: workers will get an amount of money every year for

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Speaker 1: knowing how to type or knowing how to use like

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Speaker 1: Microsoft Office, and workers who have these skills get these bumps.

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Speaker 1: And there are so many of these bumps that over time,

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Speaker 1: many workers get paid more as a result of all

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Speaker 1: of the bumps to their salary than the actual base

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Speaker 1: value of their salary itself. Saudi government employee benefits constitute

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Speaker 1: between ten and one hundred and fifty percent of worker

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Speaker 1: income by the late twentieth century. What it's they get

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Speaker 1: around us to try to avoid paying more money, and

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Speaker 1: it winds up costing a huge amount of the national

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Speaker 1: budget to do.

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Speaker 3: Right, I really got away from them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they're robbing Peter to also pay Peter.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right.

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Speaker 1: Now. The fact that most people working in Saudi Arabia

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Speaker 1: were not Saudi represented another issue. The state again tries

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Speaker 1: to fix the problem by fiddling around the edges. They

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Speaker 1: issue a novel benefit for employees and departments that have

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Speaker 1: fewer than fifty percent Saudi workers. The idea is that

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Speaker 1: if they give a benefit to these jobs, more Saudis

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Speaker 1: will get jobs in these fields because these jobs have

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Speaker 1: higher pay. But it actually discourages the hiring of Saudi

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Speaker 1: employees because every worker in that field is like, if

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Speaker 1: we hire any more Saudis, we won't get that huge

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Speaker 1: pay bump, So we have to not hire any Saudis.

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Speaker 1: You have to only hire foreign workers, right, yah, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: It's just a constant series of like really avoidable. If

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Speaker 1: like you'd spent three if it was anyone other than

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Speaker 1: a bunch of like princes who's never worked making these decisions,

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Speaker 1: you'd be like, but when this just encourage them not

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Speaker 1: to hire mar Saudis, it's do a thing that gets

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Speaker 1: them their pay cut, right.

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Speaker 2: It's one of those things where you just have to

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Speaker 2: kind of go like, all right, everybody stop, let's start over.

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Speaker 2: Like we It's like we're buildings.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, a scratch scratch in this country, guys.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we gotta take all the wiring out put in

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Speaker 2: new wiring.

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Speaker 1: It's like when you're working on a screenplay or a

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Speaker 1: novel that just isn't coming together. Sometimes at some point

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Speaker 1: you just you just have to throw the idea out right,

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Speaker 1: oh yeah, and some people can't do that. It's like that,

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Speaker 1: but with a country. NBS's father, Prince Solomon during most

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Speaker 1: of NBS's child all of NBS's childhood, is the governor

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Speaker 1: of Riyad, and Muhammad Ban Salomon is the first son

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Speaker 1: of his dad's second wife, because again he'd had like

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Speaker 1: six kids with his first wife, Sultana. But then she

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Speaker 1: gets like this recurrent kidney infection and she can't have

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Speaker 1: any more kids, so he kind of reluctantly gets a

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Speaker 1: second wife, this lady Fada bint Fala al Hathlim, who

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Speaker 1: is brought on to let him continue to have sons,

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Speaker 1: and over the years she gives him six more sons.

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Speaker 1: Mohammad ban Salmon is the oldest of these kids, right,

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Speaker 1: so he is the oldest son from his dad's second family.

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Speaker 1: On paper, again, he's the oldest son of the second family,

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Speaker 1: so he should never have wound up anywhere near becoming

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Speaker 1: the king, right his dad shouldn't have become the king,

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Speaker 1: let alone to him. He's even further down the line.

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Speaker 1: He is the sixth son of the original king's twenty

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Speaker 1: fifth son, and was literally several generations removed from being

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Speaker 1: in line for the throne. Muhammad ben Salmon's early life was,

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Speaker 1: in Ben Hubbard's words, steeped and inherited an unearned privilege.

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Speaker 1: He spends most of his childhood and palaces socializing with

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Speaker 1: other members of the royal family, almost to the exclusion

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Speaker 1: of anyone else. When he travels from one palace to

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Speaker 1: the other, it's in convoys of armored cars surrounded by

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Speaker 1: bodyguards he's raised mostly by a mix of nannies and

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Speaker 1: tutors who watch over him on a daily basis, alongside

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Speaker 1: servants and other household staff who don't have the power

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Speaker 1: to discipline him in a meaningful way, so most of

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Speaker 1: the people raising him can't punish hip sounds healthy exactly, exactly,

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Speaker 1: like I cant if your family killed you know that?

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Speaker 2: To me, Let's say you make a monster, like that's

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Speaker 2: a monster. Yeah, yeah, that's like if a group of

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Speaker 2: people are like, hey, you know what, be funny if

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Speaker 2: we made a monster, Yeah, how do we do that?

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Speaker 3: And that sounds like what you would do.

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Speaker 1: That's it's it's one of those things. There's a sweet spot,

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Speaker 1: because it's bad if a kid is always afraid that

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Speaker 1: his parents are going to hit him, But it's also

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Speaker 1: bad if a kid knows no one he could possibly

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Speaker 1: talk to will ever smack him in the mouth. Right.

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Speaker 1: It's true, like it shouldn't be your parents, but you

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Speaker 1: should know that if you mop off to a stranger

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Speaker 1: who knows what they'll do right, right, as opposed to

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Speaker 1: the stranger will be scared that you'll have their family killed. Right.

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Speaker 1: One of those is worse than the others.

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Speaker 2: He's living on the holidack, like that's what it is.

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Speaker 2: It's a world exclusively built for him exactly. Yeah, you

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Speaker 2: should go through the brain damage.

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Speaker 1: Ye.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you should know that you could get a smack

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Speaker 2: from somebody, someone, not someone, yeah.

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Speaker 3: A classmate against some guy to the bar, you know, like.

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Speaker 1: That someone could put you in check if you're out

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Speaker 1: of pocket enough. Right, that's important for people.

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Speaker 3: Right because it seems like you don't want to learn

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Speaker 3: that late.

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Speaker 1: Right now. It's a measure of how fucked up this

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Speaker 1: kid's upbringing is that almost no one in his life

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Speaker 1: is allowed to call him by his real name. Right.

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Speaker 1: That's how separated from the world this boy is a

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Speaker 1: handful of close friends and his family members can call

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Speaker 1: him Mohammed Ben Solomon Right. To people actually raising him,

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Speaker 1: who are largely servants, which are most of the people

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Speaker 1: who talks to on a daily basis, they call him

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Speaker 1: tall omroc. This means literally, may God prolong your life,

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Speaker 1: but a more accurate translation is what people like people.

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Speaker 1: It's like your highness, right, that's what they mean when

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Speaker 1: they call him tall and rock right. In recent interviews,

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Speaker 1: MBS has claimed that his father took responsibility for organizing

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Speaker 1: his and his siblings educations. They were each assigned a

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Speaker 1: book a week to read and would be quizzed on it.

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Speaker 1: His mother used a lot of the family clout and

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Speaker 1: money to bring in scholars and academics from around the

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Speaker 1: Kingdom to lead discussions with the royal family and take

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Speaker 1: her kids on field trips for Hubbard's book. MBS quote

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Speaker 1: both parents were strict. Showing up late for lunch with

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Speaker 1: his father was a disaster. In Salmon's words, his mother

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Speaker 1: was harsh too. My brothers and I used to think,

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Speaker 1: why is our mother treating us this way? She would

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Speaker 1: never overlook any of the mistakes he made. He later

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Speaker 1: concluded that the scrutiny made him much stronger. NBS is

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Speaker 1: rather unique among the royalty we covered on the show,

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Speaker 1: and that we don't have a lot of detail on

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Speaker 1: his early life, right. You get a lot of that

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Speaker 1: with like European royalty, because there's someone making notes of

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Speaker 1: everything they do for like the entirety of their early life,

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Speaker 1: and we don't have that with him. He doesn't say

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Speaker 1: much about his childhood, and the people who would know

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Speaker 1: more were mostly servants and state employees, who again could

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Speaker 1: be seriously punished if they told anybody, and they never do.

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Speaker 1: We know that. Prince Solmon, his father, continued to live

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Speaker 1: with his first wife, life and family in a palace

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Speaker 1: referred to in jest as the White House. NBS's mom,

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Speaker 1: who's his set. His dad's second wife raises the kids

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Speaker 1: in another palace, and so he's he's already the Bee family, right.

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Speaker 1: He grows up knowing he's the Bee family, But his

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Speaker 1: mom takes him and his siblings to the main house

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Speaker 1: regularly because he wants She wants her kids to have

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Speaker 1: face time with their dad, which will guarantee them a

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Speaker 1: future in the power structure in the country. And as

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Speaker 1: you might guess, this is awkward.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just such a perfect storm of like we're

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Speaker 2: going to give you an inferiority complex, but also still

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Speaker 2: a palace.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, still a palace. And no one can yell at

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Speaker 1: you except for your dad and mom, who will do

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Speaker 1: it and then never raise you. Right, that's all they're

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Speaker 1: there for is to yell at you. Now, Sultana doesn't

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Speaker 1: like her husband's second family, right, and her kids follow suit.

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Speaker 1: The older kids, the first kids treat all of the

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Speaker 1: second kids like shit, you know, like he is the

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Speaker 1: only people who can bully him are his half brothers,

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Speaker 1: right like, they're the ones talking shit about him constantly,

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Speaker 1: and NBS's early memories involve a lot of bullying from

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Speaker 1: these siblings. He's also raised on stories of his royal

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Speaker 1: ancestors that would have emphasized how normal it was for

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Speaker 1: members of the Saud family to kill each other. While

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Speaker 1: his paternal grandfather was King Abdulaziz, his maternal grandfather had

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Speaker 1: murdered the king's only brother and the man who would

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Speaker 1: be King Karen House adds. Indeed, MBS's maternal ancestor died

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Speaker 1: on alhith Lane's Ajman troops had wounded Abdulaziz in a

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen battle that killed his only full brother. More

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Speaker 1: than a decade later, alhith Lane was treacherously murdered bearing

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Speaker 1: a leather of safe conduct signed by Abdulaziz, alhith Lane

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Speaker 1: and eleven companions with Abdulaziz's regional governor's son. While he

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Speaker 1: declined to stay overnight, saying his men would come looking

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Speaker 1: for him if he didn't return, his host refused to

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Speaker 1: allow him to leave. When the Ajman tribesmen did arrive,

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Speaker 1: their chief's throat was slit, along with those of his

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Speaker 1: eleven companions. Some Saudis see this treachery as parallel to

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Speaker 1: that of a murder of a nearly a century later,

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Speaker 1: of Jamal Kashogi, the Washington Post columnist invited to a

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Speaker 1: Saudi consulate Nistenbold and then murdered a night in twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 1: So he grows up on stories of like his family

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Speaker 1: members killing each other and was told that this, like,

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Speaker 1: this is what made your grandpa strong is that he

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Speaker 1: killed this other grand member of your family.

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Speaker 2: Right, some stories of like your grandfather fighting in the war,

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Speaker 2: but it's fighting in the war against against your other

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Speaker 2: grandfather or something.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, his cousin who killed his brother.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So NBS grows up constantly mocked and derided by his older,

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Speaker 1: more accomplished half brothers, and he is initially a shy

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Speaker 1: and anxious boy. During a third grade play, he is

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Speaker 1: so uncomfortable with the idea of performing in front of

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Speaker 1: people that he can't take the stage when the moment comes,

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Speaker 1: even though his dad, the governor of Riad, is in

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Speaker 1: the audience to see. So one of the few times

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Speaker 1: his dad shows up to see him do something he's like,

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Speaker 1: I can't be I got stage fright, I can't show

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Speaker 1: up on stage.

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Speaker 3: Listen.

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Speaker 2: I feel for the kid, like I don't want to

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Speaker 2: go on stage either.

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Speaker 1: But man, yeah, man, that's a rough one. That's a

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Speaker 1: rough one. His earliest memories would have involved a lot

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Speaker 1: of rage at the religious police too. Again, movies and

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Speaker 1: music are illegal while he's a child. Television exists in

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Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia, but it sucks complete ass because you can't

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Speaker 1: watch a lot of the TV that other people are watching.

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Speaker 1: It's basically just news and boring religious discussions.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we all grew up with those like weird neighbor

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Speaker 2: kids who didn't have a TV.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and they develop a complex about it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what happens.

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Speaker 1: His only entertainment option at home is video games, because

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Speaker 1: video games are a new enough concept that the actual

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Speaker 1: fun police Saudi Arabia has hasn't gotten around of banning

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Speaker 1: them yet, right, Like they kind of get grandfathered in.

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Speaker 1: So he is, for his whole life at the present moment,

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Speaker 1: a huge video game nerd because it's just kind of

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Speaker 1: the only cool thing he can do as a kid. Incredible,

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Speaker 1: and in this way, his childhood's not that different from

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Speaker 1: a lot of people listening. His first console was a Nintendo,

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Speaker 1: followed by a Neo Geo, which he got when he

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Speaker 1: was six. Biographer care In House notes that he still

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Speaker 1: has his original Neo Geo in his childhood bedroom at

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Speaker 1: the family palace.

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Speaker 3: Amazing, captain.

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Speaker 1: I think he's worth some money these days.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, not that he cares, but yeah, that

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Speaker 2: solid he throw on eBay, Yeah, that'd be a hell

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Speaker 2: of a bye.

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Speaker 1: As I said earlier, Prince Salmon was not rich by

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Speaker 1: al Soud standards. That's again NBS.

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Speaker 3: His dad.

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Speaker 1: He was certainly in the top one percent in the country,

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Speaker 1: probably still in the world, but that still puts him

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Speaker 1: in the bottom fifty percent of the house of sud.

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Speaker 1: MBS was conspicuously aware of this fact. As a child.

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Speaker 1: His monthly allowance was equivalent to about five hundred US

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Speaker 1: dollars while he was a fourth grader, and it says

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Speaker 1: a lot that he felt poor next to his cousins

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Speaker 1: the wealth of well theset of whom received about five

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars a week.

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Speaker 2: Right if you, if you gave me five hundred dollars

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Speaker 2: as a fourth grader and brought me to the ball.

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Speaker 3: I would die, like, I would be dead from that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it would get me killed. Yeah, I would have

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Speaker 1: overdosed on Warhammer models. Yeah Noda had Pewter poisoning or

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Speaker 1: some shit.

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Speaker 3: I'd find a way. I don't know half and I'd die.

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Speaker 1: I would find a way.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: His NBS's frustration with his family financial situation was compounded

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Speaker 1: by the fact that things were worse for Prince Salmon's

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Speaker 1: second family. Again, they live in the second palace, they

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Speaker 1: have a smaller cut of the family income, and when

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Speaker 1: the family goes on vacation to Spain, Prince Salmon takes

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Speaker 1: his first wife and their kids to his mansion in Marbella,

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Speaker 1: and NBS's mom and the kids have to stay at

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Speaker 1: a hotel in Barcelona. No, it's a nice hotel, right,

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Speaker 1: but you're not staying in the palace your dad owns

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Speaker 1: because you're not allowed there because you're not the real family.

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Speaker 1: Right that's got a fucking kid up.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's again perfect storm is like you have so

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Speaker 2: much privilege, but also like the weird anger of someone

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Speaker 2: who doesn't feel like they do, and we're giving you

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Speaker 2: just nothing but video games, which I mean, I love

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Speaker 2: video games, but something about that.

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Speaker 1: Also no parental love, but all of the video games

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Speaker 1: you eat. So as a father, Prince Salmon was more

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Speaker 1: hands on than most of his family. He sets an

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Speaker 1: aggressive curriculum for his kids, and he devotes a significant

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Speaker 1: amount of money to their education, but he doesn't spend

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Speaker 1: time to them, with them face to face. He manages

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Speaker 1: them like sims basically right, like he's a spreadsheet dad.

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Speaker 1: NBS grows up with the distinct impression that his dad

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Speaker 1: was prioritizing his first family because he was. He watches

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Speaker 1: with jealousy as one older half brother becomes the first

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Speaker 1: Muslim astronaut and another gains international renown for helping American

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Speaker 1: journalists during the First Gulf War. In more recent years,

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Speaker 1: a rumor has spread that MBS was always his father's favorite,

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Speaker 1: and this is true now he's definitely his dad has

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Speaker 1: made him the crown Prince. It doesn't seem to have

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Speaker 1: been true back then. MBS himself told Karen House, I

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Speaker 1: was yeah.

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Speaker 2: If my kid, if one of them was an astronaut,

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Speaker 2: I feel like no one would even ask what the favorite.

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Speaker 1: Like astronaut more Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really tough to compete. But when it went

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Speaker 3: to easy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Nbs himself told Karen House, I was not my

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Speaker 1: father's favorite, and then listed the names of four siblings

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Speaker 1: that his dad preferred, and the fact that he had

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Speaker 1: a list ready to hand says a lot about this kid,

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Speaker 1: where he's like, no, I knew my rank. I knew

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Speaker 1: my exact rank in the family.

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Speaker 3: They had it on the wall. They had a letter board.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they had a letter board and the astronaut was top.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: One family associate postulated a house that quote. He felt

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Speaker 1: a need to strive for distinction from an early age.

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Speaker 1: This was stoked by his father, who treated his kids

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Speaker 1: with his second wife like they were the Bee family, right,

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Speaker 1: you know, like this is this is the way that

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Speaker 1: they're He's like almost saying this to them. So INDs

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Speaker 1: grows up with a bone to pick in regards to

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Speaker 1: his half siblings and a burning sense that he is

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Speaker 1: a great deal to prove if he's going to win

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Speaker 1: his father's affections. This becomes more of an urgent need

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Speaker 1: as he gets older. By sixth grade, he's aged out

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Speaker 1: of his shyness, and according to his recollections, he'd replaced

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Speaker 1: his younger brother Turkey as the leader of his siblings.

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Speaker 1: One of the few good sources we have on his

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00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,720
Speaker 1: childhood that isn't either MBS himself or someone who he

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00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,800
Speaker 1: could imprison for having something negative said about him is

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Speaker 1: a British tutor that his father hired to teach his

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Speaker 1: sons English. This guy, Rashid Sakai, had been a teacher

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Speaker 1: at a fancy school in Jedda before the Prince called

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Speaker 1: him up in nineteen ninety six when MBS was eleven,

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Speaker 1: and he's one of our only sources who can be

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Speaker 1: kind of objective about these kids in this period of time.

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Speaker 1: Here's how he describes the family living arrangements when he

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Speaker 1: went to work with the family, And keep in mind

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Speaker 1: these are poorer members of the royal family. Once through

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Speaker 1: the heavily guarded gates, the car would wind past a

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Speaker 1: series of jaw dropping villas with immaculate gardens maintained by

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Speaker 1: workers in white uniforms. There was a car park filled

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Speaker 1: with a fleet of expensive a luxury cars. It was

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Speaker 1: the first time I saw what looked like a pink Cadillac.

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Speaker 1: That is like, yeah, that's his second his second family says.

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Speaker 2: Right, it's like when you read about Stephen Miller in

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Speaker 2: your life, his family had to downgrade, and it's like,

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Speaker 2: what do you mean by downgrade? He's like, well, he's

398
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Speaker 2: still had maids and stuff and like servants.

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00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,919
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was slightly smaller.

400
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,320
Speaker 1: It was fewer maids than he thought he ought to have.

401
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,680
Speaker 3: And that fucked him up for the rest of his life.

402
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:19,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, he never got over that.

403
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:21,840
Speaker 3: Yeah.

404
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:27,880
Speaker 1: You know who isn't like Stephen Miller? Dave, hold on, now,

405
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,200
Speaker 1: just tell me the sponsors of this podcast, who are

406
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,399
Speaker 1: probably not Miller. It's not there's not a zero percent chance,

407
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 1: and we're back. I just looked. Steven Miller is still

408
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,480
Speaker 1: not a podcaster, so we're doing good.

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Speaker 3: He's not a sponsor, not.

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Speaker 1: Yet, not yet, not yet. We do look forward to

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Speaker 1: him sponsoring the show though.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So we're talking about this guy Rashid Sakai who starts

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Speaker 1: teaching when like the second family of Prince Salomon, when

415
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,439
Speaker 1: NBS is eleven, and he recalled that when he starts

416
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,000
Speaker 1: working for the family, he notices that NBS is close

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Speaker 1: to the palace director and the palace guards, like the

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Speaker 1: people who are like the servants who are kind of

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Speaker 1: running the household, all really like this kid. He tends

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Speaker 1: to prefer NBS tends to prefer socializing with the guards

421
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,720
Speaker 1: to paying attention during his English lessons quote. As the

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Speaker 1: oldest of his siblings, he seemed to be allowed to

423
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Speaker 1: do as he pleased. My ability to command the younger

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Speaker 1: prince's attention would only last until Mohammad would turn up.

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Speaker 1: So again, he's not the top of his family, but

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00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 1: he's the top of the second family. So it's like again,

427
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Speaker 1: he's constantly the worst of all worlds right where he's

428
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Speaker 1: the head of his small world, but he also regularly

429
00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,280
Speaker 1: butts up against this other world where he's nothing. You know,

430
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 1: Since his dad lives in a different palace and is

431
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,760
Speaker 1: seldom around, this means that MBS is effectively the man

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Speaker 1: of the house from like sixth grade on. He is

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Speaker 1: in charge in a very literal sense, and he gets

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Speaker 1: to give orders to a staff of dozens of adults.

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Speaker 1: He develops a habit of playing pranks, as Rashid recollected,

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Speaker 1: I still have a memory of him using a walkie

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Speaker 1: talkie in our classes, borrowed from one of the guards.

438
00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 1: He would use it to make cheeky remarks about me

439
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,320
Speaker 1: and crack jokes between his brothers and guards. On the

440
00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:11,840
Speaker 1: other end.

441
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:14,439
Speaker 3: That's one of very good.

442
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 1: It's not a break at all.

443
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

444
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, again, a teacher should have the right to, like

445
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,199
Speaker 1: at least spray water at a kid if they do

446
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,439
Speaker 1: something like that, a little bit of water, right, just

447
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 1: like a cat, like a cat, exactly like sta Damn.

448
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 2: They had to give him like some sort of special

449
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:34,439
Speaker 2: pass for this stuff.

450
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, now, I'd be remiss if I didn't note that.

451
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,960
Speaker 1: Sakai himself still says that he became fond of Mohammad

452
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,720
Speaker 1: and his siblings. He describes them all as curious to learn,

453
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,880
Speaker 1: but keen to play around, just like his non royal students.

454
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 1: Sakai's account gives us an interesting insight into the bizarre

455
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 1: world of royal family life. For example, quote on one occasion,

456
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 1: I was taken aback when Muhammad told me that his mother,

457
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 1: the Princess, said that I had said that I seemed

458
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,200
Speaker 1: like a true gentleman. I had no recollection of meeting her.

459
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,199
Speaker 1: Saudi women royalty don't appear in front of strangers, and

460
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,399
Speaker 1: the only female I came across was a nanny from

461
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 1: the Philippines. I was oblivious to the fact that I

462
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 1: was being watched until the future heir to the throne,

463
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: pointed to some CCTV cameras on the wall. From that

464
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,000
Speaker 1: point onwards, I would always feel self conscious in my

465
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,640
Speaker 1: lessons like that. That's the vibes here.

466
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,960
Speaker 2: Oh my god, justin I think about what like school

467
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,920
Speaker 2: teachers have to deal with in this country.

468
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,360
Speaker 3: Not being recorded like that is Oh god.

469
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,920
Speaker 1: No, yeah, just just a bad time. After several months

470
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,520
Speaker 1: on the job, the future King Solomon NBS's father scheduled

471
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 1: a meeting with all the different tutors that he'd hired

472
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: for his children. Sakai initially thought that this might be

473
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,199
Speaker 1: a good opportunity to discuss the kid's behavioral issues. So

474
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,200
Speaker 1: we can infer that, despite his fondness for Mohammed Vin Salmon,

475
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,480
Speaker 1: Sakai did consider the kid to have a behavior issue.

476
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,080
Speaker 1: Quote when he appeared before us, the teachers instinctively rose up,

477
00:22:58,080 --> 00:22:59,880
Speaker 1: and I watched in awe as they approached the real

478
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,120
Speaker 1: governor one by one. Bout kissed his hand and hastily

479
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,639
Speaker 1: conferred about the children and moved on. And when I

480
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 1: turn came, I couldn't for the life of me been

481
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,439
Speaker 1: like they did. I had never done it before, And

482
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,639
Speaker 1: before I froze completely, I reached out to take the

483
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: future King's hand and shook it firmly. I remember a

484
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 1: faint grin of amazement on his face. However, he made

485
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 1: no fuss about my faux pas. Now, Sakai does not

486
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 1: decides like, I've already pushed my luck enough, I'm not

487
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 1: gonna talk about the fact that your kids acting up

488
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 1: in class.

489
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:27,760
Speaker 3: Uh.

490
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,640
Speaker 1: He says this is because he'd already decided to leave

491
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,199
Speaker 1: for the UK, but he just recalled that. Afterwards, the

492
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,919
Speaker 1: house manager yells at him for not showing respect for

493
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,600
Speaker 1: the future king. Right then he's like, you shook his hand,

494
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 1: you fucking ass off.

495
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a job where I'm not gonna marry Poppins.

496
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:42,679
Speaker 1: This.

497
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 3: I'm getting the help out here, Like I'm this weird.

498
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, this can't be on me to figure this out.

499
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,439
Speaker 2: It's that feeling of like, if you speak up, they

500
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 2: might go like, well, I have a different plan.

501
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 3: Well he's just gonna execute you.

502
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:03,240
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, we're getting you in a different direction.

503
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 3: Yeah.

504
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,240
Speaker 1: By the time he enters his teen years, Prince Muhammad

505
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,480
Speaker 1: had jettisoned the shy, awkward side of his personality. He

506
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 1: continued to play pranks and act up in class and

507
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 1: in public. His relatives describe him as being frustrated and angry,

508
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 1: with a sharp temper that went off explosively for little

509
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,439
Speaker 1: to know reason. One of his earliest defining character traits

510
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 1: is that he was completely unsatisfied with his family's level

511
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,959
Speaker 1: of wealth in the fourth grade. Again, he's making about

512
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,280
Speaker 1: five hundred dollars a week as a fourth grader, so

513
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 1: we're talking about like a pretty good monthly income for

514
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,000
Speaker 1: a ten year old, but he complains again about the

515
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: fact that his other relatives get more. Karen House describes

516
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,439
Speaker 1: the young prince as saying that his immediate family sat

517
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 1: below the salt right, Like, that's the term for we're

518
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: not making as much money as the other people in

519
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:48,159
Speaker 1: the royal family.

520
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 2: It's hard normal because if it's the only life, you know,

521
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 2: if you go to your cousins and you're like, I

522
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 2: have all the POGs in the world, and they're like

523
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,719
Speaker 2: I have all the POGs in the world, plus several cars,

524
00:24:58,720 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 2: and you're like, ah.

525
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have custom POGs.

526
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:02,480
Speaker 3: Yeah.

527
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,680
Speaker 1: Again, like by the time he's in high school, it's

528
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,680
Speaker 1: normal for princes at his level to have Porsches or BMW's,

529
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 1: but that's not good enough for him. He can't stand

530
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 1: having the same kind of fancy car as the other

531
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,439
Speaker 1: poor princes. I'm wanting to read a quote from the

532
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:18,800
Speaker 1: man who would be king here. Quote. As a high

533
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,440
Speaker 1: school senior, MBS was old enough to get his first car.

534
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 1: His father urged his son to get a car like

535
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 1: the other boys had luxury, but low key MBS declined.

536
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,440
Speaker 1: He had saved money from gifts his uncles had given

537
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: him on Islamac holidays, and he was going to have

538
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 1: the car he wanted, even though it cost nearly two

539
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty thousand dollars. So he buys the car,

540
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,800
Speaker 1: which is like a fancy Lamborghini, but he doesn't get

541
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 1: a lot of time to show it off for long

542
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 1: because I don't know this might be surprising to you, Dave,

543
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,479
Speaker 1: sixteen year olds are not ready to drive Lamborghinis.

544
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,360
Speaker 2: I was literally my mind was flashing through my history

545
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 2: of cars as he was saying that. Of like, no, no, no, no,

546
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 2: no no no no, that's all you want to do.

547
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 2: That's absolutely I don't care how much money you have.

548
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,000
Speaker 2: You want something you'll drag race with your friend on

549
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 2: the highway or off.

550
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 3: Yeah.

551
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, kitt a lancer, Yeah, NBS rear in some poor

552
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 1: fucker in Riad and totals his Lamborghini. He has to

553
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: call a friend to be rescued. I don't He's probably

554
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: not drunk, he's probably just incompetent. I doubt the person

555
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,959
Speaker 1: he hits gets to file. Imagine filing a claim against

556
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 1: the fucking prince.

557
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,919
Speaker 2: I would run, like I would literally on the street,

558
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 2: just see him and get the out of there.

559
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: S Yeah, what a horrible time. It's like hitting a

560
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 1: cop car, like.

561
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 2: Fuck yeah, yeah, it's like hitting a dinosaur. It's just like,

562
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,160
Speaker 2: I need to get out of here right now. That

563
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:46,159
Speaker 2: thing's gonna kill me.

564
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,600
Speaker 1: There's only one kind of dude driving a Lamborghini in

565
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,160
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia right now now. The turn of the millennium

566
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,840
Speaker 1: brings several huge changes to Mohammed Ben Salmon's life, two

567
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,639
Speaker 1: of which bring a rap had an unexpected alteration to

568
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,680
Speaker 1: his chances at reaching the throne. In two thousand and one,

569
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: Prince Salmon's oldest son fought, the guy who'd helped reporters

570
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 1: during desert storm dies unexpectedly of a heart condition. His

571
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: second brother, Ahmed, who's forty six. A year later, and

572
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 1: like this is the guy. He's like owned a Kentucky

573
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,920
Speaker 1: Derby winning horse. He'd been great at shit. He dies

574
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: at age forty four of another heart related issue. In

575
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: his biography MBS, ben Hubbard writes, quote the declared cause

576
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,439
Speaker 1: in both cases was heart attack, but the underlying reasons

577
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 1: were never made clear. Right, So were they poisoned? Were

578
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: they killed?

579
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 2: And I was heart attacking quotes big heartartacking quote.

580
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:44,480
Speaker 1: Yeah it's a little soft, right right that' said. NBS

581
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: probably wasn't the culprit either way, because he's just a

582
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:47,359
Speaker 1: kid at this point in time.

583
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 2: It would be tough to live in a family like

584
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,879
Speaker 2: this and then there be an actual, like genetic medical

585
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 2: issue because you might not even know, like what if

586
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 2: it is just heart attacks? And they're like, well, we

587
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 2: assumed they were poisoned. We're not going to look into that.

588
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 2: I'm not going to be a cardiologist.

589
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows. They're rich? Are they doing like coke

590
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: or something like that?

591
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 3: I don't know.

592
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: This is mom orgust. Who's to say it's entirely possible

593
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: these are what they seem to be. Whatever the case,

594
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 1: this shifts the family dynamics in very short order. For

595
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,479
Speaker 1: one thing, NBS is dad Prince Salmon is devastated, as

596
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: his and his most prominent biographers tend to agree, right,

597
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 1: this presents an opportunity to MBS because his dad has

598
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,560
Speaker 1: other older kids from his first marriage. But by the

599
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: time the two oldest sons die, they're all mature adults

600
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: following their careers and ambitions, while NBS is just sixteen

601
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 1: years old and has nowhere better to be during his

602
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,160
Speaker 1: father's time of need and vulnerability than right by his

603
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 1: dad's side. So while the other older kids are off

604
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 1: doing stuff, NBS starts showing up to support his dad

605
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: while he's grieving, which is going to immediately put him

606
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 1: in a better position. Right, It's just, yeah, a smart play.

607
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 1: It's not hard to see why this plays dividends for him.

608
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, and a convenient one where it might have even

609
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 2: naturally happened. Where like you said, everybody else is fucked

610
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 2: off doing other things. It don't seem like as interested

611
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 2: in the family business essentially.

612
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Now, the main consequence of these deaths

613
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,280
Speaker 1: isn't just that two names get pulled from the front

614
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: of the line. It's that NBS and his dad get

615
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,480
Speaker 1: really close. People note that Mohammad and Salmon starts following

616
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 1: his father to work on a daily basis and gets

617
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 1: to watch him do the job of governing the capitol.

618
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 1: He starts to get a feel for how power works

619
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,520
Speaker 1: in the kingdom, and he gets a lot of FaceTime

620
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 1: with his father. Power players in the state apparatus get

621
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: used to seeing mbs as well, and he becomes a

622
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 1: default part of increasingly large bits of the power structure.

623
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,080
Speaker 1: One thing he comes to understand is that his father

624
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 1: wields power and influence within the Alsaud family. In his

625
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: article for The Africa Report, Jahad Gillan writes, as governor

626
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 1: of Riyad, he had access to a small private prison

627
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: where he could punish any badly behaved relatives for offenses

628
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,959
Speaker 1: such as public intoxication, unpaid hotel bills in Paris, and

629
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,959
Speaker 1: reckless driving. I have several princes in my palace at

630
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: this moment, he bragged to the British writer Robert Lacy.

631
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 1: In this way, his position meant that he knew all

632
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 1: the secrets, big and small of the Alsad Klan and

633
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: possessed incriminating information on many of them. Right, so he's

634
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: he's kind of able. His dad is part of what

635
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: NBS grows up seeing is his dad is patting his

636
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: money and is kind of increasing his power by punishing

637
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 1: a lot of his relatives who have less power, right,

638
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: and NBS becomes aware of, like, oh, that's how you

639
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: get ahead in the family, you know, is by getting

640
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: leverage and wealth over your loved ones.

641
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 2: It's like any family you blackmail, yeah, the rest of

642
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 2: your family.

643
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly exactly. You put him in there in the

644
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 1: prison you keep for family members.

645
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Everybody needs a cousin jail.

646
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 3: You need one.

647
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 1: If I had a cousin jail, believe me, it would

648
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,280
Speaker 1: have gotten use when I was a kid.

649
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,880
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, listen, here's the thing, Robert. It can be

650
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 2: a shed, like it could be anything you needed to be.

651
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 2: It's ideally you want like a you know, like like

652
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:06,760
Speaker 2: a ten person cousin jail.

653
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 1: If you have a pair of handcuffs, you have a

654
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 1: cousin jail.

655
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly exactly. If you have like a cinder block

656
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,960
Speaker 2: and some rope, you have a cousin jail.

657
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: Realizing jail, anyone can have a cousin jail. So big

658
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: Hubbard sites that interview with an anonymous member of the

659
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 1: family entourage who claims quote NBS is social life centered

660
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,920
Speaker 1: around using his royal privilege to help build bonds with

661
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,520
Speaker 1: the people. In the summer, his family would DeCamp for

662
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: the Red Sea coast, where NBS would rent a fleet

663
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 1: of jet skis for the young man for the young men.

664
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: In the winter, they would set up a camp across

665
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,720
Speaker 1: the desert where MBS would have the biggest camp, serve

666
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 1: roast lambs on huge platters of rice, and keep fleets

667
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: of buggies for the Bedouin who drop by to greet

668
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 1: the locals. In Bin's reading, one of been Salomon's strengths

669
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 1: is that he loved, or at least was able to

670
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 1: convince his father and a lot of power burgers in

671
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: the country that he loved Saudi Arabia. While his cousins

672
00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: and siblings and half siblings loved the West and spent

673
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 1: their time and foreign countries, he was primarily like hanging

674
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 1: out at home. Right. This isn't totally accurate. He parties,

675
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 1: oversees a lot, and he violates the religious laws his

676
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: family's supposed to abide by constantly, But he puts in

677
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 1: a good show of liking Saudi Arabia, right, and that

678
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 1: gets that pays dividends for him, you know, right.

679
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 2: I mean, he's a rich kid. You have to party overseas.

680
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 2: That's just what you gotta do.

681
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's just part of the life. Yeah. Yeah, but

682
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: you throw in some parties at home too, you know.

683
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:30,360
Speaker 3: And yeah they did.

684
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 1: Yeah. And this the fact this is a deliberate lie

685
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that his dad isn't convinced that his son

686
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 1: feels this way. The evidence suggests that NBS is able

687
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 1: to keep a sort of jeckle and hide situation going

688
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 1: for most of his adolescents. In young adulthood. To his father,

689
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:48,320
Speaker 1: he's this disciplined, obedient, patriotic boy, the perfect successor to

690
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 1: a lot of his peers and relatives. He makes a

691
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,560
Speaker 1: habit out of petty crime and disobedience, stretching the limits

692
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,160
Speaker 1: of his royal immunity as far as possible. Per an

693
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 1: article in the Africa Report quote, as a teenager, he

694
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 1: was a bad tempered troublemaker who sometimes behaved out landishly,

695
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 1: like the time he dressed up as a policeman so

696
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 1: he could wander around a riodd shopping center. He was

697
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,920
Speaker 1: caught in the act by actual police officers, but they

698
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,360
Speaker 1: let him walk free when they realized who he was.

699
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,360
Speaker 2: He's doing like a princess Jasmine. He's going out. He

700
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 2: wants to blend in. But you normally when you want

701
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,560
Speaker 2: to blend in, you don't dress like a cop. That's

702
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 2: the opposite of blending in.

703
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:24,280
Speaker 3: No, I mean he.

704
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 1: Doesn't want to blend in. He wants to bully people.

705
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds really like real my dad owns the

706
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,480
Speaker 2: dealership energy. Yeah, where like he's he's a jerk, but

707
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 2: he's a perfect angel to the family, to the people

708
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 2: who are keeping him in that position, Like yeah, yeah,

709
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,400
Speaker 2: Like he's doing a great job at being a shitty

710
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:46,040
Speaker 2: rich kid.

711
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 3: Like he's he's not nailing it.

712
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,000
Speaker 1: It sounds that's exactly right. Now as a young man,

713
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,000
Speaker 1: one of the first revelations NBS has is that, unlike

714
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 1: many of his close relatives, he's going to have to

715
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,800
Speaker 1: work for his money. It'll be clear. He's not going

716
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 1: to have to work to have access to life of

717
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 1: luxury and excess. He's guaranteed that as a member of

718
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 1: the royal family. But he wants power and influence, and

719
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 1: his birthright isn't going to guarantee him that. It's become

720
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,760
Speaker 1: increasingly clear to him by this period that Prince Solomon

721
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: is in a lot of debt, both to other family

722
00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 1: members and to non royal rich Saudi guys. NBS is

723
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 1: keenly aware of this fact, and he's also paying a

724
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,279
Speaker 1: lot of attention to the financial situations of his closer relatives.

725
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 1: During a conversation with one such cousin, he comes to

726
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 1: the horrifying conclusion that his branch of the family is

727
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,879
Speaker 1: going to get left on the sidelines. Per an investigation

728
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,319
Speaker 1: by Jahad Gillan published in The Africa Report, quote while

729
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 1: still a teenager, MBS told his father that he wanted

730
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 1: to start a business, an atypical ambition for a Saudi

731
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 1: royal family member, one that extracted nothing other than a

732
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: smile from Salmon. MBS's significant relationships with his male relatives

733
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 1: are all based around either vengeance or imitation. As an

734
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,840
Speaker 1: insecure teenager, the cousin he most wants to imitate is

735
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,919
Speaker 1: his cousin, Prince Alwaheed bin Tallal, who's the richest man

736
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:04,520
Speaker 1: in Saudi Arabia. Reporting on Bintelal's earlier business dealings makes

737
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 1: it seem like this is the kind of thing where

738
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 1: MBS would regularly bring up his rich cousin during business

739
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 1: deals to be like I'll be richer than him in

740
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 1: like two years, you know, like this guy's this guy's

741
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 1: the cousin. I'm most in byer now, but I'm going

742
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 1: to get more money than my cousin. Like you you

743
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 1: think he's rich, now you get in bed with me,

744
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to have even more money. Right. He's not

745
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,080
Speaker 1: initially good at business. The first big business deal he

746
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,839
Speaker 1: tries to set up involves trying to buy, like trying

747
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: to land a deal importing asphalt from Kuwait, and this

748
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 1: falls apart, as do most of his subsequent business deals,

749
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 1: because despite having a lot of cunning and a work

750
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,279
Speaker 1: ethic that surpasses his relatives, he's not good at a

751
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,200
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. By age sixteen, yeah, exactly, Like.

752
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,920
Speaker 2: I know things I feel like being born into wealth.

753
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:54,439
Speaker 2: It's it feels harder to be into business because it's

754
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:59,239
Speaker 2: like it's like it's like driving a Gta, where like

755
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,279
Speaker 2: the steaks are are not high enough for me to

756
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,799
Speaker 2: be at this. Yeah you know if I if I

757
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 2: fuck up, eh, it'll be fine.

758
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,160
Speaker 1: It's and like if you get good at driving a Gta,

759
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,640
Speaker 1: that's fun, but you still fucked up enough that if

760
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 1: you'd been a real person, you would have died a

761
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: million times by that. Yeah right, Yeah, a case in point,

762
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 1: at age sixteen, he's saved up about one hundred thousand

763
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 1: dollars in cash, mostly from Hawking gold, jewelry and fancy washes.

764
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,200
Speaker 1: He got his birthday gifts from his dad and uncles,

765
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: and he uses that money to launch an investment portfolio

766
00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 1: that he's going to try to turn into a personal fortune. Right,

767
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:37,880
Speaker 1: he wants to turn this hundred thousand to millions of

768
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:41,280
Speaker 1: dollars so that he's independently wealthy. Gillan writes that quote.

769
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,759
Speaker 1: At first, the value of his share portfolio went up,

770
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 1: but soon enough MBS was losing money and in financial ruin,

771
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,680
Speaker 1: as he would later admit, like, he takes a bath

772
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: on all of this money because he's basically day trading

773
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:56,880
Speaker 1: and he doesn't know what he's doing right now. My

774
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,839
Speaker 1: greatest yeah, of course, the greatest advantag again, just took

775
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,040
Speaker 1: that money in an index fund. Man, you'd have been fine.

776
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:03,759
Speaker 3: Give it to me.

777
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:05,919
Speaker 1: You're fine, give them money to me, give them money

778
00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,240
Speaker 1: to day. It'll work out just as well for you. Yeah,

779
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,360
Speaker 1: The greatest advantage of being born into money. Is that

780
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,080
Speaker 1: a setback? Like burning your life savings at age sixteen

781
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,920
Speaker 1: does not have any consequences. You're not gonna starve and

782
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:19,759
Speaker 1: you're not going to fail to meet any bills. You

783
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,720
Speaker 1: just gotta have to keep saving up birthday rolexis until

784
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,719
Speaker 1: you can try again. So he does that, and he

785
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,240
Speaker 1: graduates high school as one of the top ten students

786
00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:30,880
Speaker 1: in Saudi Arabia. And I know you're wondering, did he

787
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 1: really earn that honor or was it nepotism? And the

788
00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:35,960
Speaker 1: best answer I can give is this, can you think

789
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,080
Speaker 1: of a real national education system that has a list

790
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:42,280
Speaker 1: of the ten best students in the country. No, because

791
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 1: that's stupid. Real real countries don't do that.

792
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,439
Speaker 3: No, No, they tell you're right. It's a good point.

793
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 3: I mean, it's almost like the best.

794
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:54,279
Speaker 1: Students in America.

795
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's like, what is gonna have? Is he

796
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,279
Speaker 2: not gonna graduate? There's no world where it's it's like,

797
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,239
Speaker 2: is he a good steerio or not?

798
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,239
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, maybe he's smart. We'll never know.

799
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,120
Speaker 1: Guy whose teachers will get shot for not giving good

800
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:15,480
Speaker 1: grades has good grades news at eleven. Yeah, speaking of

801
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:20,960
Speaker 1: people who might get shot, probably not our advertisers. I

802
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: think solid, solid, Thank you, and we're back. So we're

803
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,160
Speaker 1: talking about Mohammed Ben Solomon. He's graduated high school at

804
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,719
Speaker 1: this point. He goes to college at a university named

805
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 1: after his great grandfather, King Saud. I'm sure he earned

806
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: his admittance the hard way, uh, and he gets a

807
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,279
Speaker 1: law degree. He graduates second in his class, which again

808
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,439
Speaker 1: I'm sure he did the honest way. By this point,

809
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,399
Speaker 1: Mohammed Ben Solomon decided to take another stab at trying

810
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,040
Speaker 1: to get rich on his own. He makes the smart

811
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,880
Speaker 1: move of finally reaching out to actual professionals, businessmen and

812
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:04,279
Speaker 1: riad who are scared of pissing off the governor and

813
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,840
Speaker 1: wouldn't tell his annoying kid to fuck off. One imagines

814
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,879
Speaker 1: that Prince Salmon puts in a good word with them

815
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 1: on behalf of his son, and perhaps maybe brings up

816
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:16,080
Speaker 1: some blackmail gently. However it happens, MBS winds up with

817
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 1: eight hundred thousand dollars to try his hand at starting

818
00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:23,520
Speaker 1: another investment portfolio. Right wow, he managed to bootstrap himself

819
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 1: up again to having even more money to try to

820
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 1: make money with. Amazing He invests in US corporations and

821
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 1: this goes better for him. In two thousand and eight,

822
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,360
Speaker 1: when he's twenty three, he starts investing in the tadal

823
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,440
Speaker 1: Wu Exchange, which is the Saudi stock exchange right now,

824
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,160
Speaker 1: since nearly all of the companies on the Saudi Exchange

825
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,480
Speaker 1: are owned or run by the government aka his family,

826
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,680
Speaker 1: it's pretty easy for someone like NBS to do we

827
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 1: would call insider trading, which he calling his cousin who

828
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:56,759
Speaker 1: runs the company and says, hey, are you about to

829
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,240
Speaker 1: have any good news? Should I get some stock?

830
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,920
Speaker 3: Now? I'm surprised he even had to try.

831
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 2: It rids me of the Stonecutter Simpsons episode where they're

832
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:08,440
Speaker 2: all just like Homer Win where it's like, what do

833
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:09,520
Speaker 2: you even have to call?

834
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:12,879
Speaker 3: Like yeah, they could just yeah man, And.

835
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:15,560
Speaker 1: It's a it's a mark of how of how sketchy

836
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:17,640
Speaker 1: he still isn't this that he does get invested for

837
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,520
Speaker 1: insider trading and that happens to him, but he's still

838
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:23,879
Speaker 1: obvious enough that someone looks into it.

839
00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:27,680
Speaker 3: Who looked into that? That's incredible?

840
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, like bone saw?

841
00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 2: That's who right to do something so bad or illegal

842
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,319
Speaker 2: that someone's like, Okay, this is gonna kill me, but

843
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:37,920
Speaker 2: I have to do something about it.

844
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,320
Speaker 1: I just can't ignore this man.

845
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:41,320
Speaker 3: Yeah.

846
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:45,400
Speaker 1: Now, NBS's first year's after graduation are a blizzard of

847
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 1: firms and businesses launched by him, usually in partnership with

848
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,920
Speaker 1: someone who needed favors from his dad or the royal family.

849
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,160
Speaker 1: Because he is somewhat willing to do real work, he

850
00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,839
Speaker 1: does get appointed to some actual jobs. Oh there again,

851
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,000
Speaker 1: they're nepo jobs. He's made Secretary General for the Riod

852
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,560
Speaker 1: Competitive Council. He's made special advisor for a foundation named

853
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: after his grandfather, that sort of stuff. He creates his

854
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:12,239
Speaker 1: own philanthropic foundation cultivating leadership skills in young Saud. He's

855
00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 1: got his little Lebowski Urban Achievers program of his own right,

856
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 1: and in two thousand and nine he gets made special

857
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 1: advisor to the Governor of Riod, who is his dad.

858
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:26,200
Speaker 1: Now this is probably the earliest clear sign that this

859
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 1: middle son of Prince Solomon had somehow engineered his way

860
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 1: into being a favored son of the heir apparent. This

861
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: still puts him nowhere near the running for throne or

862
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:40,239
Speaker 1: for the running the entire kingdom. His focus at this

863
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:43,560
Speaker 1: point is just on getting rich. Real estate speculation is

864
00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:46,879
Speaker 1: finally how he succeeds financially in a big way. Per

865
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,120
Speaker 1: that article in the Africa Report quote, MBS teamed up

866
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 1: with landowners who agreed to give him a cut of

867
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 1: the revenue generated by property sales to build developments on

868
00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:58,520
Speaker 1: greenfield estates. The business model turned out to be lucrative,

869
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 1: and the prince began to a as a small fortune.

870
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:03,920
Speaker 1: Then a rumor made the rounds that NBS had sent

871
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 1: an envelope containing a bullet to an owner who deigned

872
00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:08,640
Speaker 1: to refuse to sell a plot of land to him.

873
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 1: Whether true or false, the anecdote earned him the name

874
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 1: Abu Rasala, the Father of the bullet, within the royal family.

875
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:21,560
Speaker 2: Mm hmm, that father of the bullet. Yeah, I think

876
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:24,200
Speaker 2: that's just a complicated way of saying a gun, right,

877
00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:25,759
Speaker 2: like the father of.

878
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:27,880
Speaker 1: The father of the bullet. Is it more of a

879
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,040
Speaker 1: mother his gun? Bullets are more like eggs in a gun.

880
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 1: More guns, so maybe they're not good. Yeah, that's what

881
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 1: hr Geiger would have argued for the painting on my wall.

882
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:44,080
Speaker 2: Would have done all sorts of things. It would have

883
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,399
Speaker 2: been both and none at the same time.

884
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:54,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, uh Geiger. And again that's also such like a

885
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 1: that is kind of like a weak sauce version of

886
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,400
Speaker 1: threatening someone with murder is like just making them an

887
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:00,080
Speaker 1: envelope with the.

888
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:07,879
Speaker 2: Bullet, because then there's something like I guess the thing

889
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:11,239
Speaker 2: about mailing someone a bullet is that then you get

890
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 2: to imagine that they had to like go out, get

891
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:19,880
Speaker 2: some stamps, put the bullet in the envelope, mail the envelope.

892
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:22,919
Speaker 2: Like there's just something like kind of silly about that

893
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 2: threat where it's almost like too much work.

894
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,719
Speaker 1: I don't know, Yeah, yeah, it's it's just like kind

895
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:31,279
Speaker 1: of sweaty, right, Like.

896
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:33,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like when you watch seven and you're like

897
00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:36,279
Speaker 2: he had to mail that head, which means that he

898
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,440
Speaker 2: had to like go to ups and like war line

899
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,480
Speaker 2: and like get it all, get it all wrapped up,

900
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:44,480
Speaker 2: and I don't know, it just kind of takes the

901
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:47,000
Speaker 2: edge off when you think about that a little too much.

902
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,680
Speaker 1: Father, When you get mailed a bullet, do you call me,

903
00:43:51,719 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 1: like do me to like shoot myself? What am I?

904
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,440
Speaker 3: Do you mean to mail me a bullet?

905
00:43:57,920 --> 00:43:58,839
Speaker 1: Is this purposefully?

906
00:43:58,880 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 3: Were sitting.

907
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 1: Likely? What are we doing here?

908
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:05,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's very sweaty.

909
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:09,680
Speaker 1: His master stroke, like in terms of financial deals, is

910
00:44:09,719 --> 00:44:12,239
Speaker 1: that this this deal he inks in two thousand and

911
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:16,120
Speaker 1: eight with Verizon. Weirdly enough, that's how MBS gets his

912
00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 1: like his major financial success. He takes a minority stake

913
00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 1: in a joint venture involved with one of his many

914
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:26,560
Speaker 1: companies to bring the fiber optic infrastructure to Saudi Arabia. Right,

915
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,439
Speaker 1: This partnership helps boost MBS's growing stature, although it doesn't

916
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,840
Speaker 1: actually get off the ground. Right, this is like his

917
00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:36,360
Speaker 1: one of his big deals and it never happens, but

918
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,359
Speaker 1: he doesn't get paid for it. And Prince Salomona said

919
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:41,880
Speaker 1: to have bragged, my son made millions for the family

920
00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: as a result of this, even though again it doesn't

921
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:47,160
Speaker 1: work out, right, Like, all that matters is we got paid,

922
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,320
Speaker 1: you know, well, did we get fiber optic?

923
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 3: No fibers like LaserDisc you know what I mean?

924
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:55,680
Speaker 2: Where I feel like I was talking to someone like, oh,

925
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 2: I can't wait to get fiber optic, and it's like

926
00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:01,000
Speaker 2: they don't. We have wireless internet. Now we're completely stipping

927
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 2: over fiber optic.

928
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:05,760
Speaker 1: He's like that deadbeat dad who like promises his family

929
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:08,000
Speaker 1: we're getting fiber and then he just gets like faster

930
00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:08,640
Speaker 1: dial up.

931
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:12,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, hey, and that works.

932
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 1: Yeah. In late January of twenty fifteen, King Abdullah died NBS'

933
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:20,960
Speaker 1: His father, Governor Salomon, had been the crown prince for

934
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:23,120
Speaker 1: some period of time, and so he becomes the king

935
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,399
Speaker 1: after the old king's death. This was noted as being

936
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:31,040
Speaker 1: an unusually smooth transition given the messy circumstances of the

937
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:33,840
Speaker 1: Saudi family in general. The fact that it's the smoothest

938
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:35,759
Speaker 1: scene is that there's a kind of an agreement that

939
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,239
Speaker 1: now King Solomon and the old king had, and basically

940
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,600
Speaker 1: the former king is like, I will make you the king,

941
00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 1: but you have to appoint these people to positions in

942
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 1: the government, right, who would otherwise be your ribals and

943
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:51,080
Speaker 1: not and agree not to fight them or have like

944
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,440
Speaker 1: bloodshed with them, right. So they kind of make an

945
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:56,200
Speaker 1: agreement before the old king dies to try to spare

946
00:45:56,239 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: the kingdom any sort of power struggles. Saudi kings, as

947
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:02,319
Speaker 1: you might, don't have to follow a strict family line

948
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:04,640
Speaker 1: to decide who gets power when they're gone. They get

949
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 1: to pick a successor. Salmon gets the job because he

950
00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:09,760
Speaker 1: convinces the old king he was the most capable option,

951
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:11,680
Speaker 1: and he promises to do a bunch of stuff that

952
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:14,840
Speaker 1: the old king says, now he doesn't follow all of

953
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:17,920
Speaker 1: these to the letter. Before King Abdullah died, he had

954
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:19,920
Speaker 1: picked a crown prince that he wanted to be the

955
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 1: crown Prince for King Solomon, the guy who would succeed

956
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:27,479
Speaker 1: if Salomon died, and this was Prince Markin bin Abdullah Ziz,

957
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:30,239
Speaker 1: who at age seventy two was just seven years younger

958
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:33,239
Speaker 1: than Prince now King Solomon. I found a write up

959
00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:35,959
Speaker 1: by Stephen Matthews who noted what was interesting about Prince

960
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,800
Speaker 1: Markin becoming crown Prince is that he was officially designated

961
00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:41,399
Speaker 1: in a royal decree by former King Abdullah as next

962
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:45,360
Speaker 1: in succession after King Solomon. After a further royal decree

963
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,200
Speaker 1: by King Abdullah stated that Prince Markin would become crowned

964
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:51,080
Speaker 1: Prince after Crown Prince Salomon became king and cannot be

965
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:55,520
Speaker 1: changed by anyone. Now this doesn't last, right, And there's

966
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: some speculation that because Murkin's prince mom was Yemini, he

967
00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:02,160
Speaker 1: was seen as an una acceptable air. I think that

968
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:05,280
Speaker 1: King Solomon just kind of knew the guy wasn't gonna

969
00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:07,719
Speaker 1: be a good successor. He was too old, and so

970
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,840
Speaker 1: after a few months he picks a more capable successor,

971
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,399
Speaker 1: and this guy kind of steps aside, and the man

972
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:15,719
Speaker 1: he picks for the job is not his son, but

973
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,719
Speaker 1: his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayaf otherwise known as MBN, a

974
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,520
Speaker 1: very capable man who would have the misfortune of being

975
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:26,160
Speaker 1: the first person targeted for destruction by Mohammed ben Salomon,

976
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:28,799
Speaker 1: who's going to succeed him as the crown Prince. And

977
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,799
Speaker 1: we will tell that story in part three. How are

978
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:35,799
Speaker 1: you feeling so far about this kid, Dave, You know, no.

979
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,680
Speaker 2: Warning signs, no red flags. Seems fine to me, not

980
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:43,719
Speaker 2: at all. Yeah, you know, nobody sawed up.

981
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,560
Speaker 1: Nobody's sawed up. He's mailed a bullet to some guy.

982
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:48,960
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's the worst thing he'll do.

983
00:47:49,520 --> 00:47:53,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, that's like real teenage edged lord

984
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:57,320
Speaker 2: stuff where it's like I can see someone doing that here.

985
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:01,440
Speaker 3: I could see like if he you know, know, at.

986
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:05,880
Speaker 1: Least should have bullet, you know, Yeah, you.

987
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,640
Speaker 2: Can sell that to like a child. Child doesn't know

988
00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:10,880
Speaker 2: how much a bullet costs. They'll give you anything.

989
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:15,760
Speaker 1: They don't know that that's not worth that much money. Yeah, Well, David,

990
00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:17,759
Speaker 1: got any pluggles to plug before we roll out here.

991
00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:23,120
Speaker 2: Ah, same as before. Game for the unemployed, some more news.

992
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:26,359
Speaker 2: Google those things if you feel like it.

993
00:48:27,719 --> 00:48:30,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, google those things if you feel like it. Oh

994
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:31,920
Speaker 1: you don't, still do it?

995
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:37,160
Speaker 3: I'll yeah, blue Sky, I guess, Okay, okay, movie whol again?

996
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:41,040
Speaker 3: Why not? I'm not really on it, but you know

997
00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:41,759
Speaker 3: I'm on it.

998
00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:46,400
Speaker 1: Yeah. Anyway, Find Dave on the internet, Harass him on

999
00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:49,440
Speaker 1: the internet, find him on the street, talk to a bullet.

1000
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:51,360
Speaker 1: Mail day of a bullet.

1001
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 2: If enough people mail me a bullet, I'll have a

1002
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:55,280
Speaker 2: shitload of bullets.

1003
00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:56,799
Speaker 3: I have no guns, but.

1004
00:48:57,120 --> 00:48:59,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, those are as good as money. You can

1005
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,600
Speaker 1: pay your rent to bullets. In some places you actually

1006
00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 1: probably can't. That might be illegal, but oh yeah right,

1007
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:07,880
Speaker 1: paying your written to know they probably would take that

1008
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:11,960
Speaker 1: as a threat. Yeah yeah, well, Dave, I think that's

1009
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:13,520
Speaker 1: going to be all for those of us here at

1010
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:16,200
Speaker 1: Behind the Bastards and those of us here at David

1011
00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:21,520
Speaker 1: Bell until next week. Continue not living in Saudi Arabia

1012
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:23,880
Speaker 1: unless you live in Saudi Arabia, at which point good luck.

1013
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:27,520
Speaker 1: In which case good luck, I guess either way, whatever, yeah,

1014
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:30,239
Speaker 1: and have fun, have fun.

1015
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 4: Behind the Bastards is a production of Cool Zone Media.

1016
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:38,919
Speaker 4: For more from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool

1017
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:43,000
Speaker 4: Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,

1018
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:46,200
Speaker 4: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Behind the

1019
00:49:46,239 --> 00:49:50,320
Speaker 4: Bastards is now available on YouTube, new episodes every Wednesday

1020
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:54,080
Speaker 4: and Friday. Subscribe to our channel YouTube dot com slash

1021
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:56,480
Speaker 4: at Behind the Bastards