Amid tightening under the de facto rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) Saudi royals are selling homes, yachts, and art to raise cash and avoid visible assets.
Recent changes in government policy have forced the sales of lavish assets after years of now-unsustainable spending habits by the country's senior princes, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
The holding of the pricey assets brought scrutiny from MBS since the 36-year-old's father took the throne in 2015.
"These people don't work, they have huge staffs and they're afraid of [Prince Mohammed]," the source told the Journal, adding the sales give them "cash in their back pocket and not to have visible wealth."
Among the sales was a $155 million country estate in England last year by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, two yachts more than 200 feet long, and Mughal jewels, according to the report.
"They've clearly been cut down to a disciplined, defined regimen and are having to live on that," British historian Robert Lacey told the Journal.
Since MBS is "here for the long term," Lacey added, "he's reshaping things in a long-term fashion."
Prince Bandar's representative noted all the assets abroad were sold off "because he saw bigger benefits to investing in the kingdom with the amazing job the crown prince is doing and creating all the investment opportunities."
But sources told the Journal the sales are because royals have had to shift amid the global economic downturns and MBS has effectively "turned off the taps."
"They had a standard of life that was beyond any expectation," another source added. "The expenditure is out of this world. It takes time for them to adapt."
Among the other sales has been the late Prince Turki bin Nasser, the son-in-law of Prince Bandar, selling a 203-foot yacht in 2020 and a $28.5 million home in Los Angeles' Beverly Park in 2021, which was completed after his death, sources told the Journal.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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