Mohammed bin Salman

In 1915 the Ajman, under Dhaydan's leadership, fought against the House of Saud, during which Salman's uncle Saad bin Abdul Rahman was killed in the Battle of Kanzan.

Mohammed is the eldest among his mother's six children and is the eighth child and seventh son of his father.

His full siblings include Prince Turki and Prince Khalid.

Mohammed holds a bachelor's degree in law from King Saud University, where he graduated second in his class.

After graduating from university, Mohammed spent several years in the private sector before becoming an aide to his father.

He worked as a consultant for the Experts Commission, working for the Saudi Cabinet.

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (محمد بن سلمان آل سعود; born 31 August 1985), also known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.

He is the seventh son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia and grandson of the nation's founder, King Abdulaziz.

He is considered by many as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Mohammed was born as the first child of Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third wife, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain.

After obtaining a law degree from King Saud University, he was an advisor to his father.

Mohammed bin Salman was born on 31 August 1985 to Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and his third spouse, Fahda bint Falah Al Hithlain.

Fahda is a granddaughter of Rakan bin Hithlain and great-granddaughter of Dhaydan bin Hithlain, who were heads of the Ajman tribe.

On 15 December 2009, at the age of 24, he entered politics as a special advisor to his father when the latter was the governor of Riyadh Province.

At this time Mohammed began to switch from one position to another, such as secretary-general of the Riyadh Competitive Council, special advisor to the chairman of the board for the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, and a member of the board of trustees for Albir Society in the Riyadh region.

In October 2011, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz died.

Prince Salman began his ascent to power by becoming second deputy prime minister and minister of defence.

He made Mohammed his private advisor.

The political unrest in Yemen (which began escalating in 2011) rapidly became a major issue for the newly appointed minister of defence, with Houthis taking control of northern Yemen in late 2014, followed by the resignation of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his cabinet.

Mohammed's first move as minister was to mobilise a pan-GCC coalition to intervene following a series of suicide bombings in the Yemeni capital Sana'a via air strikes against Houthis, and impose a naval blockade.

In June 2012, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz died.

Mohammed moved up into the number two position in the hierarchy, as his father became the new crown prince and first deputy prime minister.

On 2 March 2013, Chief of the Crown Prince Court Saud bin Nayef Al Saud was appointed governor of the Eastern Province, and Mohammed succeeded him as chief of the court.

He was also given the rank of minister.

On 25 April 2014, Mohammed was appointed state minister.

On 23 January 2015, King Abdullah died and Salman ascended the throne.

Mohammed was appointed minister of defence and secretary general of the royal court.

In addition, he retained his post as the minister of state.

He was appointed deputy crown prince and Defence Minister after Salman became king, then promoted to crown prince in 2017.

He succeeded his father as prime minister in 2022.

Since his appointment as crown prince in 2017, Mohammed has introduced a series of social and economic reforms.

Between 2017 and 2019, he ordered the arrest of Saudi princes and billionaires involved in financial corruption, which reportedly led to the state's recovery of over $100 billion in assets and cash.

These include regulations restricting the powers of the religious police and improving women's rights, the removal of the ban on female drivers in 2018 and weakening the male-guardianship system in 2019.

His Saudi Vision 2030 program aims to reduce the Saudi economy's reliance on oil through investment in non-oil sectors including technology and tourism.

Under Mohammed, Saudi Arabia began co-ordinating its energy policy with Russia and also strengthened its relations with China.

Mohammed leads an authoritarian government.

Those regarded as political dissidents are systematically repressed through methods including imprisonment and torture.

A CIA report released in 2021 found that Mohammed had orchestrated the assassination of the Saudi Arabian activist Jamal Khashoggi.

He has denied involvement in the killing.

Mohammed was the architect of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen and was involved in the escalation of the Qatar diplomatic crisis and a 2018 diplomatic spat with Canada.