Wall St titans skip Riyadh, still come to Gulf

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All eyes would normally be on Riyadh this time of year, when the titans of finance make their annual pilgrimage to FII, pontificate on the global economy, and meet one of their most important clients: the Saudi monarchy. Then come the less buzzy stops in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, sometimes Dubai, and Doha, all important sources of fees and capital, but reluctant to take the shine off Saudi’s annual investment jamboree.
This year, Houthi attacks forced the postponement of FII, but executives — including Apollo’s Marc Rowan, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, and KKR’s Scott Nuttall — made the trip to the region anyway.
They were seen in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait this week. Rowan and Schwarzman spoke to The National, the newspaper owned by the UAE’s vice president, about opportunities in the region, some of which are driven by the war: Rowan estimates Gulf states will spend $1 trillion hardening infrastructure and building alternative transport routes, and Schwarzman expects a “very substantial construction boom” as countries move vulnerable infrastructure underground.

document fetched 2026-10-29 03:03 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/10/28/2026/finance-titans-travel-to-gulf-despite-skipping-riyadh-events