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Saudi heir’s private jet rant on welfare cuts sparks outrage

Oct 8, 2025, 9:03am EDT
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Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al Rajhi.
Yazeed Al Rajhi. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters.

A luxury private jet is no place to lecture about welfare cuts. Yazeed Al Rajhi — rally driver, cafe chain owner, and most importantly, scion of one of Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest families — found this out the hard way this week. His 10-minute jet rant sparked outrage for telling Saudis that they must “accept the decisions or mistakes made by officials as they are working to serve the nation and your wellbeing.”

His comments came after his cousin, Human Resources Minister Ahmad Al Rajhi, suspended parts of the social security program (largely for the elderly, disabled, and widows).

Yazeed’s father, the late Sulaiman Al Rajhi, had an estimated worth of $2.1 billion in 2015 after giving away most of his fortune to charity. That goodwill, which carried considerable weight in Saudi society, didn’t temper the public reaction to the son’s comments: Saudis are calling for a boycott of Rajhi’s Half Million cafe chain — Saudi’s most popular — and his other businesses.

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