Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud

Mohammad bin Salman
Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Minister of Defense
In office	23 January 2015 –
Predecessor	Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Monarch	Salman
Chief of the Royal Court
In office	23 January 2015 –
Predecessor	Khaled al-Tuwaijri
Monarch	Salman
Head of the Crown Prince Court
In office	14 January 2013 – 23 January 2015
Predecessor	Ali bin Ibrahim Al Hadeethi
Monarch	Abdullah
Spouse	Sara bint Mashoor bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Full name Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
House	House of Saud
Father	Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Mother	Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hithalayn
Born	1985 (age 29–30)
Religion	Islam

Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud (Arabic: محمد بن سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎; born in 1985) is the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, second deputy prime minister and minister of defense. He is the youngest minister of defense in the world.^[1] Mohammad is also chief of the royal court, and chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs.

Early life

Prince Mohammad was born in 1985.^[2] He is the son of King Salman and his third spouse Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hithalayn.^[3] He is the full brother of Turki bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group.^[3] Prince Mohammad holds a bachelor degree in law from King Saud University.^[4]

Career

After graduating college, the Prince spent several years in the private sector before being tapped by his father as a personal aide. He had already gotten the sinecure position as a consultant to the Experts Commission under the Saudi Cabinet.

On 15 December 2009, Prince Mohammad entered politics as a special advisor to his father Prince Salman when the latter was the governor of Riyadh Province.^[5] At this time, the prince began to collect titles and sinecure positions such as secretary-general of the Riyadh Competitive Council, special advisor to the chairman of the Board for the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, and a member of the Board of Trustees for Albir Society in Riyadh region.

In 2011, The Crown Prince died, and Prince Salman began his ascent to power by becoming Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister in November 2011. He made Prince Mohammed his private advisor.^[6]

Prince Mohammed established the "Prince Mohammed bin Salman Foundation," otherwise known as MISK, which is meant to help needy youth and became the chairman of the foundation.^[7]

Chief of the Court

In June 2012, the Crown Prince, Prince Nayef, died. Prince Salman moved up into the number two position in the hierarchy and soon began remaking the court in his own image, starting with appointing Prince Mohammed supervisor of the Crown Prince’s Office.^[8] On 2 March 2013, the chief of the Crown Prince court Prince Saud bin Nayef was appointed governor of the Eastern province and Prince Mohammad succeeded him in the post. He was also given the rank of minister.^[9][10][11] On 25 April 2014 Prince Mohammad was appointed state minister.^[12]

Defense minister and chair of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs

On 23 January 2015, King Abdullah died, and Salman took the throne. Then, Prince Mohammad was appointed minister of defense,.^[13] He was also named as the secretary general of the Royal Court on the same date.^[14] In addition he retained his post as the minister of the state.^[15][7]

On 29 January 2015 Prince Mohammad was named the chair of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs which was established on the same date.^[16] which replaced the disbanded Supreme Economic Commission.^[16]

War with Yemen

The first major event in his tenure as defense minister was Operation Decisive Storm, which started as a bombing campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.^[17]

Deputy Crown Prince

In April 2015 King Salman appointed a nephew, as Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, 55. At the same time King Salman appointed Prince Mohammed as deputy crown prince. These changes indicate that the kingship will pass to a new generation for the first time since 1953.^[18]

References