Saudi Arabia’s hard-charging Mohammed bin Salman, named crown prince on Wednesday, holds unusual power for a man of just 31, so much so that diplomats nickname him “Mr Everything”.
The son of King Salman has risen to become Saudi Arabia’s most influential and prominent figure since being named second-in-line to the throne in early 2015.
He symbolises the hopes of a youthful local population, more than half of which is under 25.
Prince Mohammed is the main proponent of a wide-ranging plan, dubbed Vision 2030, to bring social and economic change to the oil-dependent economy of a country where women’s rights are among the most restricted in the world.
He also holds the post of defence minister more than two years into a Saudi-led military intervention in neighbouring Yemen.
Born on August 31, 1985, the prince amassed “extraordinary power and influence very quickly” after his father ascended the throne in January 2015, said Frederic Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.