“More than 7,000 delegates attended the opening of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh this week—another sign, if one was needed, of Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in the business world. In the first few hours of the conference on Tuesday, huge lines were preventing many financial executives from attending panels. Make no mistake, Wall Street is out in force. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio are here—showing that the lure of Saudi Arabia’s wealth trumps the recent political spat between the US and the kingdom over oil.”

-Dinesh Nair. [Bloomberg]