Ryan Knutson

Neom was a futuristic new city that Saudi Arabia would build from scratch in the middle of the desert. A flashy video drove the idea home.

Neom was a futuristic new city that Saudi Arabia would build from scratch in the middle of the desert. A flashy video drove the idea home.

My colleague Rory Jones covers the Middle East. He remembers this announcement and what happened next.

My colleague Rory Jones covers the Middle East. He remembers this announcement and what happened next.

My colleague Rory Jones covers the Middle East. He remembers this announcement and what happened next.

MBS's message? With Neom, he was going to transform cities, the same way Apple transformed phones.

MBS's message? With Neom, he was going to transform cities, the same way Apple transformed phones.

MBS's message? With Neom, he was going to transform cities, the same way Apple transformed phones.

Rory had questions. What exactly was NEOM going to be? Who would build it and how quickly? Could Saudi Arabia and MBS actually pull this off? So he and a team of Wall Street Journal reporters started digging. Over the past seven years, they've talked to dozens of people who moved to the Saudi desert to work on NEOM. and they've poured over thousands of pages of internal documents.

Rory had questions. What exactly was NEOM going to be? Who would build it and how quickly? Could Saudi Arabia and MBS actually pull this off? So he and a team of Wall Street Journal reporters started digging. Over the past seven years, they've talked to dozens of people who moved to the Saudi desert to work on NEOM. and they've poured over thousands of pages of internal documents.

Rory had questions. What exactly was NEOM going to be? Who would build it and how quickly? Could Saudi Arabia and MBS actually pull this off? So he and a team of Wall Street Journal reporters started digging. Over the past seven years, they've talked to dozens of people who moved to the Saudi desert to work on NEOM. and they've poured over thousands of pages of internal documents.

What do you find most interesting about the NEOM story?

What do you find most interesting about the NEOM story?

What do you find most interesting about the NEOM story?

But their reporting shows that the project is years behind schedule and projected to be trillions of dollars over budget. And MBS's dream of a desert utopia is looking more like a nightmare. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Friday, April 25th. Over the next two episodes, we'll be telling the story of Neon.

But their reporting shows that the project is years behind schedule and projected to be trillions of dollars over budget. And MBS's dream of a desert utopia is looking more like a nightmare. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Friday, April 25th. Over the next two episodes, we'll be telling the story of Neon.

But their reporting shows that the project is years behind schedule and projected to be trillions of dollars over budget. And MBS's dream of a desert utopia is looking more like a nightmare. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Friday, April 25th. Over the next two episodes, we'll be telling the story of Neon.

This is part one, skiing in the desert. We asked for an interview with a NEOM representative for this podcast, but NEOM declined. In a statement, a NEOM spokeswoman said the project had started the year on, quote, a positive footing. She noted that like any large project, NEOM continues to make changes to ensure its long-term success.

This is part one, skiing in the desert. We asked for an interview with a NEOM representative for this podcast, but NEOM declined. In a statement, a NEOM spokeswoman said the project had started the year on, quote, a positive footing. She noted that like any large project, NEOM continues to make changes to ensure its long-term success.

This is part one, skiing in the desert. We asked for an interview with a NEOM representative for this podcast, but NEOM declined. In a statement, a NEOM spokeswoman said the project had started the year on, quote, a positive footing. She noted that like any large project, NEOM continues to make changes to ensure its long-term success.