Saudi Arabia replaces CEO leading development of megacity Neom
New Acting CEO has been head of local real estate at PIF, which is the owner of Neom
Saudi Arabia replaced the executive that was overseeing its plan to build the $1.5 trillion futuristic development known as Neom.
Nadhmi Al Nasr, who had been chief executive officer of Neom since 2018, will be replaced by Aiman Al Mudaifer for now, according to a statement on X. Al Mudaifer has been head of local real estate at Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which is the owner of Neom, for the past six years.
"As Neom enters a new phase of delivery, this new leadership will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project," Neom said in the statement.
Neom is the biggest project within Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans for diversifying the oil-dependent economy. Its total budget was initially said to be $500 billion, but other estimates put it as high as $1.5 trillion.
Crown Prince Mohammed intends for Neom to be a showpiece that will transform his country's economy and serve as a testbed for technologies that could revolutionize daily life. The most high-profile part of the development is The Line, a sprawling, futuristic city it plans to contain within a pair of mirror-clad skyscrapers that that would be taller than the Empire State Building and longer than the distance between New York and Philadelphia.
Neom's plans also include an industrial city, ports and tourism developments.
Neom opened its first development last month: Sindalah Island. The tourism resort is home to ultra-luxury hotels and unspoilt beaches, plus an 86-berth marina where the uber rich can dock their yachts and dive into the crystal clear waters of the Red Sea.
Earlier this year, Al-Nasr invited hundreds of bankers to visit Neom as he hunted for new forms of funding for the development. In the past, most of Neom's funding has come in the form of equity injections from the PIF.