Off oil and onto what? I saw one vague line about 'investments' but going from oil into international finance when they were burning 25% of their own budget for fun seems really weird.
So this is a 32-year-old guy reviled throughout the royal family as a ruthless power-grabber who is buying high and selling low. It basically comes down to "we want to sell stuff because that's the only way we can support the lifestyles to which we've become accustomed." Two quotes from the article:This winter, many Saudis took to Twitter, their favored means of uncensored discourse, to vent about a jump of as much as 1,000 percent in water bills and to complain about the prospect of Saudi Aramco, the nation’s patrimony, being sold off to finance the investment fantasies of a royal neophyte.
The evening of March 30 is spent on standby; the word comes at 8:30 p.m. Three Mercedes-Benzes arrive. Even headed to an interview about thrift, there’s no escaping decadence: The cars appear brand-new, with seats wrapped in plastic and safety belts that have never been used.