Saudi Arabia reportedly scraps planned deal with Virgin Hyperloop after Richard Branson pulls out of 'Davos in the Desert'

pulse

October 18, 2018 12:34 AM

Days after Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said he would not attend Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative conference, the Kingdom scrapped a planned agreement to launch a feasibility study for the Virgin Hyperloop project which was set to be signed during the conference.

the Financial Times reports.
Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance.

Saudi Arabia is walking away from a deal with Virgin Hyperloop, the Financial Times reports. The deal included a feasibility study — the agreement for which was expected to be signed at the Future Investment Initiative conference, otherwise known as "Davos in the Desert."

The move comes in response to the company joining droves of others who pulled out of the conference, following the disappearance and possible murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a naturalized US citizen and Washington Post columnist.

Virgin Hyperloop One, one iteration of Elon Musk’s visionary Hyperloop transportation project, unveiled its first pod prototype earlier this year. Saudi Arabia is one one of its most important backers, and heralded the project as one that could “enable all 4th-generation technologies to flourish in the Kingdom.”

On Thursday of last week, as evidence was mounting that Saudi officials were believed to have killed the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Branson joined the likes of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and others in pulling out of the conference.

"I had high hopes for the current government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and it is why I was delighted to accept two directorships in the tourism projects around the Red Sea,” Branson said in a blog post published October 11.

"What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi Government."

You can read everything we know about the troubling disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi here.

*An earlier version of this post misstated the size of Saudi Arabia's investment in Hyperloop One.

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