From Wall Street to K Street, companies measure the risks of doing business in Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON – The mysterious disappearance and possible assassination of a Saudi journalist in Turkey is echoing from Wall Street and Silicon Valley on K Street, in Washington State. Lobbyists, financiers, leaders of the high-tech sector and media personalities run the risk of doing business with Saudi Arabia. is under high surveillance for his role in the case.

The Harbor Group, one of the more than 10 lobbying companies that represent the Saudi government, has abandoned it as a customer and others are considering following suit, according to people accustomed to discussions, while Saudi Arabia Arabia struggles with a violent reaction after being murdered. the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Lobbying companies are privately discussing what to do, these people said. But some have already decided that the prospect of pursuing Saudi Arabia's paychecks – a valuable and profitable customer – was not worth the risk incurred by their reputation.

The Harbor Group, which received $ 80,000 a month to represent the Saudi Embassy in Washington, sent a letter Thursday ending its contract, said Richard Mintz, general manager of the company.

Several media, including the New York Times, have canceled their participation in a government-sponsored investor conference in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for two weeks, where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to speak. The Los Angeles Times and The Economist also announced they would not participate.

But for financial and technology companies, many of which have multibillion dollar links with Saudi Arabia, the math is more complicated. Few leaders withdrew from the conference, called the Future Investment Initiative, but known as Davos in the desert.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was one of the few people to announce their withdrawal.

"Unless very different facts emerge, I will not attend," he said in a statement released Thursday night.

The relationship of society with the Saudis is perhaps one of the most complex. The Public Investment Fund, a major Saudi sovereign wealth fund, has invested US $ 3.5 billion to hold a 5.6% stake in Uber in June 2016. Its CEO, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, has served on the board. of Uber. Prince Mohammed is the chairman of the Public Investment Fund.

Last year, the Japanese telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank also acquired a significant stake in Uber and held two seats on the company's board of directors. The investment arm of SoftBank Vision Fund is largely financed by the capital of the Public Investment Fund.

In contrast, the Blackstone Group, the large private equity firm in which the Public Investment Fund has invested more than $ 2.3 billion and committed $ 20 billion in a new Blackstone fund, plans to stay involved in the meeting, according to two people close with the company plans.

Blackstone CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman remains on the Advisory Board and is scheduled to speak at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Conference in Riyadh, where Prince Mohammed Last year, hundreds of wealthy Saudis locked up an anti-corruption campaign, but critics claimed that it was an effort to crush dissent.

The allegations, if they prove true, he says in a statement, "would clearly change the ability of each of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government".

The Times announced Wednesday that it has canceled a media partnership with the conference. Andrew Ross Sorkin, economic columnist for the newspaper and presenter at CNBC, announced Thursday that he had also retired, say on Twitter"I am terribly upset by the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports of his murder."

The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, said she would not participate, like the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong. Arianna Huffington, the author and co-founder of HuffPost, said she too would not participate anymore.

It should be noted that concerns about Saudi Arabia extend to K Street, the Lobbyist Corridor, because even customers with the most toxic reputation are normally able to get representation if their checks are released.

Saudi Arabia is a coveted customer because of its reputation for paying above-market rates and its status as one of the most reliable ally of the United States in an unstable region, which seemed cemented by the links between the United States and the United States. Prince Mohammed and the Trump administration.

Debates on the abandonment of the Saudi narrative also reflect the reluctance of the lobbying industry at a time when federal investigators, including special advocate Robert S. Mueller III, are examining more and more carefully how foreign interests are trying to shape American politics.

The highest-paying companies representing the Saudis in Washington are the international consulting group Qorvis MSLGroup, which receives $ 279,500 a month, and the Glover Park group, created by former Clinton administration officials and remunerated $ 150,000 per month, according to filings with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

$ 125,000 per month goes to two other companies: Hogan Lovells, whose main assistant is the Saudi work Norm Coleman, former Senator of Minnesota, and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, whose bipartisan team is Marc S. Lampkin, former advisor to former Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner, of Ohio, and Alfred E. Mottur, one of the leading fundraisers for Hillary's presidential campaign Clinton.

All these companies will not let down the Saudis. Some argue for the continuation of their contracts, in part because they predict that if they abandon the country overwhelmingly, this could lead to a reduction in Saudi government cooperation.