Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki Al-Saud

Born in 1951, Abdullah studied engineering in Britain before leading the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. From 2000 to 2004 he led the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority during a period when the kingdom was opening more of its economy to foreign and private investment. ^{1, 2}

Appointed ambassador in 2015, Abdullah presented his credentials to President Barack Obama in January 2016. His public diplomacy emphasized commercial relationships as well as security. After Donald Trump's election, he argued that American companies could play a substantial role in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 development program and called for faster economic opening. In the same interview, he defended the Saudi intervention in Yemen while acknowledging that the war required a political solution. He left the embassy in 2017. ^{1, 3}