How Saudi Arabia shaped Silicon Valley
Throughline

How Saudi Arabia shaped Silicon Valley

Mar 26, 2026 · 49 min

About this episode

Elon Musk. Donald Trump. Bill Gates. Sam Altman. Larry Ellison. Alex Karp.  Jared Kushner. Mr. Beast. Jeffrey Epstein… Those are just a few of the people who have been friendly with, and often done business with, Saudi Arabia over the last decade. Today on the show: how one of the world’s most authoritarian regimes became one of Silicon Valley’s biggest investors – and what that’s meant for the rest of us.<em><br/><br/>To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="plus.npr.org/throughline"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/throughline</a>.</em><br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>