Saudi Arabian Ruling Class

Saudi Arabia has a special relationship with the United States, the global hegemon. It is a monarchy ruled by the House of Saud. The family in total is estimated to comprise some 15,000 members, but the majority of power, influence and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them. It is one of the richest, if not the richest, families in the world. The king is Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, though the de facto leader is often said to be his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Richest Saudi Arabians:

* Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, CEO and owner of the Kingdom Holding Company
* Al Juffali family
* Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi
* Almana family
* Saleh Kamel
* Arqam Tariq
* Khalid bin Mahfouz & family
* Jasser Abdullah Jasser Al Ahmadi

Largest Saudi Arabian Corporations:

* Saudi Aramco
* SABIC
* Al Raijhi Bank
* National Commercial Bank
* Saudi Electricity
* Maaden
* Riyad Bank
* Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company
* The Saudi British Bank
* Almarai

American Relationship:

The United States and Saudi Arabia are tied together in a variety of important ways. In the 50s, Aramco and Saudi Arabia agreed on a 50/50 split on oil profits in the Arabian Peninsula, while a mututal defense treaty was signed allowing the United States to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. The relationship between the two countries has centered on security and oil since. During the Cold War, the Saudi and American governments were close allies in opposing communism, including in Yemen and Afghanistan, and the US provided tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid annually. Though the Saudis would participate in an oil embargo against the United States in 1973-74, in 1975 the Saudis and Americans would sign "a wide-ranging agreement on expanded economic and military cooperation," and relations would remain close to the present.

The United States has militarily occupied Saudi Arabia for decades, and though the crown consents to the occupation, the people are generally opposed. US arms sales, military support, and defense have been vital to the Saudi Crown's interests, allowing the United States to exert significant leverage on Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian human rights abuses, though criticized by some Americans, have been generally ignored by the US government, at least compared to other countries the US government sanctions and condemns. The United States in recent years has sanctioned Saudi officials and considered halting sales of offensive weapons to the Kingdom, though the Saudi government has continued to cooperate with the United States.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia signed billions of dollars of deals with U.S. companies in the arms industry and petroleum industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Honeywell, McDermott International, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical, much of this closely related to a major US arms sale.

In early 2018, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman visited the United States where he met with many top politicians, business people and Hollywood stars, including President Donald Trump, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and George W. Bush.

Despite saying they were considering halting the sale of certain arms to the Saudi Government, the Biden administration Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "discussed the continued commitment to the 70-year US-Saudi security partnership" with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and expressed support for Saudi Arabia in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict.

Former Presidents including George W Bush have close ties to members of the House of Saud. As of 2019, Saudi Arabian students form the 4th largest group of international students studying in the United States, representing 3.4% of all foreigners pursuing higher education in the U.S.

It's dependencies on the United States, mainly related to security, but also including its economic relationship, dependence on American moral and political support, reliance on American schools for educating its people, combined with the fact that America's dependency on Saudi Oil has decreased significantly, essentially means that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be understood as an American neocolony, or at least a protectorate. Saudi foreign and military policy is driven heavily by the United States, and it continues to support American economic interests, such as relations with OPEC or US Dollar Hegemony.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House\_of\_Saud

https://companiesmarketcap.com/saudi-arabia/largest-companies-in-saudi-arabia-by-market-cap/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal\_of\_United\_States\_troops\_from\_Saudi\_Arabia