The Great Saudi Fire Sell: From NEOM to Newcastle, the Era of MBS's Unlimited Checkbook Is Coming To A Spectacular End.

End of infinite money

For the better part of a decade, Saudi Arabia has behaved as if money were infinite. Build a 170-kilometer city in the desert? Sure. Create a golf league from scratch? Here is $5 billion. Turn Newcastle into the next Manchester City? Go shopping.

But something has changed. Saudi Arabia isn't remotely broke. But it appears to be running out of easy money. Across an increasingly strange collection of projects, companies and sports teams, the same pattern is emerging: projects are being delayed, contracts cancelled, stars sold and capital suddenly expected to earn a return.