Jamie Dimon: JP Morgan boss pulls out of Saudi conference
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JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has cancelled plans to attend an investment conference in Riyadh amid growing tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia.
He is the latest high-profile figure to pull out of a conference dubbed “Davos in the Desert” after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Saudis deny killing Mr Khashoggi.
Oil futures rose on Monday on concerns about supply, while some Saudi-linked stocks were hit.
Softbank’s share price tumbled about 7% as the fallout from Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance spread. The Japanese conglomerate’s $100bn (£76.1bn) Vision Fund is almost half financed by Saudi Arabia.
A critic of the government, Mr Khashoggi vanished on 2 October after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Authorities there believe he was killed in the building by Saudi agents, which Riyadh has dismissed as “lies”.
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Mr Dimon has become the latest in a number of business leaders and firms to cancel plans to attend the Riyadh investment conference following the journalist’s disappearance.
“We can confirm… that Jamie will not be attending the Saudi event,” a JP Morgan spokesperson said in an email to the BBC on Monday. “We won’t be commenting further.”
Other executives including Ford chairman Bill Ford and Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi also won’t attend the conference, which will be held between 23 and 25 October.
Britain and the US are also considering boycotting the conference, the BBC has learned.
Others distancing themselves include Sir Richard Branson, who has halted talks over a $1bn Saudi investment in Virgin space firms.
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Jamal Khashoggi has not been seen since entering the consulate
Mr Khashoggi was once an adviser to the Saudi royal family, but fell sharply out of favour with the Saudi government and went into self-imposed exile.
US President Donald Trump has said the US will inflict “severe punishment” on Saudi Arabia if it is found responsible for his death.
But on Sunday Saudi Arabia said it rejected political and economic “threats” over the missing journalist and would respond to any punitive action “with a bigger one”.
The UK, Germany and France have demanded a credible investigation into the disappearance.
