In a rare embrace of modernity fordeeply conservative Saudi Arabia-which faced violent clashes afterthe introduction of television 50 years ago and still doesn't allow women to drive -Dep-uty Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman revealed last summer that the kingdom's future will be digital. Prince Mohammed, the brash young face of the House of Saud and chair of the country's Council of Economic and Development Affairs, boarded a private jet to California in June to mingle with Silicon Valley whiz kids and the venture capital gods who can make or break them. Swapping his traditional thobe fora pairof blue jeans and a blazer, the grinning 31-year-old posed with Mark Zuckerberg for a photo shoot at Facebook's head quarters in Menlo Park. Just a few weeks earlier, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund had broken the record for the all-time biggest single investment in a venture-backed company when it cut a $3.5 billion check to UberTechnologies.
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