CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr, media executive Wayne Borg and Antoni Vives have all left in recent days. The first allegedly threatened to “shoot” the employees, the second is accused of denigrating the Muslim religion. Meanwhile, the goal now is to complete “the sporting aspect” so that the calendar events can be held.
Riyadh (/Agencies) – New dark clouds are hanging over the Neom megaproject, the $1,500 billion “city of the future” desired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs), already subject to cuts and in the crosshairs of the international organizations for violence and exploitation of workers. According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, in fact, in recent days the CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr, who had led the work since 2018, left her position along with other senior executives – the subject of criticism for abuses and mockery of Islam -, leaving the project in uncertainty. Nasr himself earned a sinister reputation for running Neom for years, boasting that he treated people “like slaves” and saying that “when they drop dead, I celebrate.” “That’s how I do my projects.”
In a case of disturbing contours, after two video game companies canceled their sponsorship agreements with Neom, Nasr allegedly attacked his communications team; He threatened them by saying that he was ready to “get a gun from under his desk and shoot” if they didn’t tell them who was responsible for the association’s failure. According to the WSJ, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which controls the megacity’s financing, is stepping in to take direct control. The Saudi Gazette also reports that Iman al-Mudaifer, a senior real estate executive at PIF, is now acting CEO.
Two other controversial foreign executives have also left Neom. These are Wayne Borg, who headed the media division, and Antoni Vives, an executive who headed The Line project: both have abruptly left their position. The first was known for his rudeness, in which he also denigrated the Muslim religion, made obscene references to sexual positions and said that Gulf women looked like “transvestites.” He also reportedly called the South Asian migrant workers employed at Neom “fucking idiots” and that “white people are first in order of importance.” The latter was a trusted man of Nasr, with a role in the project that raised doubts after a Spanish court convicted him in 2021 of corruption in his previous job at Barcelona City Council.
Neom is the futuristic city that Mohammad bin Salman wants, as part of the economic reforms promoted with ‘Vision 2030’, a modernization plan in open competition with other Gulf metropolises. A place built from scratch in the desert overlooking the Red Sea, where everything must be environmentally sustainable and accessible on foot in five minutes, but with the possibility of traveling from one end to the other in 20 minutes on high-speed trains. Plans include an industrial city, ports and tourism infrastructure, and have even been awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games in a hill station called Trojena. The development of the “Line” is supposed to take place in several phases and cover a 170 km stretch of coastline; The first was to be completed in 2026 and reach between 1.5 and 2 million inhabitants in 2030, to reach nine million in 2045. However, according to updates in recent months, a reduction is outlined, with the completion of “only » 2.4 km in 2030.
In a phase of reduced expectations, but above all costs, the objective of completing the essential elements to be able to host the “sports” events of the next decade seems to prevail. Three internal sources interviewed by Reuters after the sudden departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr explain that “when the project was first presented, the costs amounted to $500 billion. However, La Línea alone would end up costing more than a billion, which is why it has been reduced. It includes suspended roads, gardens and a stadium, and aims to run on 100% renewable energy. The works They now focus exclusively on completing the 2.4 kilometer stretch that includes the stadium, which is expected to host the final tournament of the 2034 World Cup. Future plans will then be evaluated.
“La Línea changed its plans (in September and October) to integrate the stadium, which made the project useful,” says the source, who adds that Neom has been “reduced and divided into parts.” Another priority is the completion of Trojena, the mountain resort initially planned to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029. Two other sources familiar with the matter said that al-Nasr’s departure was largely due to his inability to achieve objectives clue.
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