The chief executive of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $1.5trn bid to diversify its economy with tourism, city, and business “giga projects”, has left the role.
Neom’s board of directors announced Nadhmi Al-Nasr’s departure on 12 November without giving a reason.
Al-Nasr had been Neom CEO since August 2018.
He has been replaced by Aiman Al-Mudaifer as acting CEO.
Al-Mudaifer was formerly head of local real estate at Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is directing the Neom programme.
He is also a board member of multiple prominent companies, Neom said.
The new leadership “will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project”, said Neom.
Citing unnamed sources, Reuters reported in May that the PIF was reorganising amid a “budget crunch” to focus on investments with a higher chance of success.
Saudi Arabia relies on exporting oil, but prices have been on a downward trend since 2022.
In April, Bloomberg reported, citing documents and unnamed sources, that “The Line”, a proposed 170km-long linear city in the desert and one of the elements of Neom, had been scaled back to just 2.4km by 2030.
Bloomberg said representatives for Neom and PIF declined to comment.
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