Nawaf Abdel-Aziz has never put any money into the stock market before, but he says buying shares in the world’s most profitable company is a no-brainer.
The 29-year-old engineer from Riyadh is among the Saudi faithful waiting to get a piece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s much vaunted—and delayed—sale of a stake in oil giant Aramco. The initial public offering, likely the biggest in history, is expected to get the green light in coming days.
“It's not a random investment,” said Abdel-Aziz, as he and a friend waited for a table at a burger and sushi place in a swanky open-air mall in the Saudi capital. “The company has a history. It’s very stable. We can see where they’re headed.”
The frenzy of excitement across the kingdom and social media over the IPO is only eclipsed by its importance. Indeed, in Saudi Arabia there’s a fine line between savvy investing and patriotic duty when your leader has so much riding on its success.
Aramco underpins Prince Mohammed’s overhaul of the economy that’s now into its fourth year and some critics of the sale have ended up in jail, though no charges were disclosed. Suggestions it won’t meet the huge $2 trillion valuation are treated as dissent against the prince, who has repeated the number in interviews for years. Everyone is being encouraged to invest in the kingdom’s most important asset.
Many Saudis see the IPO as a demonstration of loyalty as tension mounts in the Gulf. It will come weeks after a crippling aerial assault on oil installations that the government has blamed on Iran. On Friday, an Iranian oil carrier was hit by missiles in the Red Sea and the Islamic Republic’s tanker company initially pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia before withdrawing the claim.
There’s also been pressure on the Saudis from their allies after the kingdom was excoriated internationally for the murder of newspaper columnist Jamal Khashoggi just over a year ago and the jailing of women’s rights activists.
“It’s a Saudi company so I feel a national duty to invest in it,” said Mashael, a 28-year-old Riyadh resident.
For the crown prince, it’s all about Saudi Arabia’s transition to Western-style capitalism. The next stage is to turn people into shareholders, much like during the 1980s when the stock market became a national pastime for Americans or Britain sold off its utilities to the public.
Anticipation has been building. Saudis are asking questions on Twitter about the offering using an Arabic-language hashtag for the IPO. Some seek advice on whether to put all their savings into it, and what to do if there’s another delay. Self-styled analysts offer their thoughts and urge Saudis to invest.