Saudi Arabia’s hard-charging Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holds unusual power for a man at the age of 30, so much so that diplomats have nicknamed him “Mr Everything”.
The son of King Salman, he has quickly risen to among Saudi Arabia’s most influential figures since being named second-in-line to the throne last year.
Here’s all you need to know about the power he commands in the oil-rich nation
- He is in-charge of Saudi’s economic policy
Prince Mohammed is chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, set up last year to coordinate economic policy.
- He handles the military as defense minister
As defense minister, the prince supervised the kingdom’s military intervention in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition 13 months ago launched air strikes against Iran-backed rebels in support of the embattled government.
- He heads the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company
Mohammed chairs a body which oversees the state oil giant Saudi Aramco – officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company – which is expected to be valued at more than $2 trillion.
- He works for 16 hours a day
As per a profile and interview published this month in Bloomberg Businessweek, the prince works 16 hours in a day and draws inspiration from the writings of Winston Churchill and Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”.
- Unlike other royal members, he’s married to only one woman
A law graduate from Riyadh’s King Saud University, he is the father of two boys and two girls and – unlike other members of the royal family – and has only married once.
He told Bloomberg that although Islam allows for multiple marriages, modern life does not leave the time.
