The organizer behind Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative conferences is considering an initial public offering.
Richard Attias & Associates, named after its founder and chairman, is working with banks including Evercore to prepare for a share sale, Bloomberg reported.
Attias’ firm has helped put Riyadh on the map in a way few could have imagined in 2017 when it organized the first FII. At that time, it was difficult to even get into Saudi Arabia. Yet Attias has built the FII brand into a challenger to events like WEF and Milken, which had been the top destinations for the global elite.
Since that first event, Attias has held fast to the kingdom through success and controversy, attracting world leaders including Saudi Arabia’s own de facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman, along with US President Donald Trump, and others to mingle with everyone who is anyone from the world of global finance.
Attias, who owns 25% of the eponymous firm with the rest held by a unit of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said last year that FII alone brings in $90 million a year. He also works on events for a variety of other governments and institutions around the world.