MBS is the untold story of how a mysterious young prince emerged from Saudi Arabia's sprawling royal family to overhaul the economy and society of the richest country in the Middle East--and gather as much power as possible into his own hands.
Since his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne in 2015, Mohammed bin Salman has leveraged his influence to restructure the kingdom's economy, loosen its strict Islamic social codes, and confront its enemies around the region, especially Iran. That vision won him fans at home and on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, in Hollywood, and at the White House, where President Trump embraced the prince as a key player in his own vision for the Middle East.
But over time, the sheen of the visionary young reformer has become tarnished, leaving many struggling to determine whether MBS is in fact a rising dictator whose inexperience and rash decisions are destabilizing the world's most volatile region.
Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, MBS reveals the machinations behind the kingdom's catastrophic military intervention in Yemen, the bizarre detention of princes and businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, and the shifting Saudi relationships with Israel and the United States.
And finally, it sheds new light on the greatest scandal of the young autocrat's rise: the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, a crime that shook Saudi Arabia's relationship with Washington and left the world wondering whether MBS could get away with murder.
MBS is a riveting, eye-opening account of how the young prince has wielded vast powers to reshape his kingdom and the world around him.
"Can we trust this mysterious prince with our oil supplies, with our friendship--with the prospects of peace in the Middle East? If anyone can give us the answers to these life-and-death questions, it is the brilliant and compulsively readable Ben Hubbard." - Robert Lacey, author of The Kingdom and Inside the Kingdom
"An excellent account of the life and the background of the most consequential new figure in the Middle East in our time...It's a frightening picture." - Bruce Riedel, Lawfare