Saudi Arabia has trumpeted claims to more than one adopted son this week. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and CEO of Red Sea Global John Pagano were both granted Saudi citizenship as part of a yearslong drive by the kingdom to attract top global talent. Kalanick has been backed by Public Investment Fund both for Uber and his latest venture, CloudKitchens, which is mulling an IPO in the Gulf. And Pagano, who has converted to Islam, has been at the helm of one of Saudi Arabia’s most successful forays into tourism since 2018.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, America, Palestine — everyone wants a piece of Omar Yaghi. The chemist, born in Jordan to Palestinian parents, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry this week, the first for Saudi Arabia, which granted him citizenship in 2021.