The Consultants Who Built Vision 2030 Are Being Cut Loose
Saudi Arabia paid McKinsey at least $500m a year for a decade. In 2026 it froze payments, halted new awards and wrote a 30 per cent local-content floor into consulting tenders. The firm-by-firm ledger of what is documented and what the consultancies' own filings decline to say.
MBS and the Consultants: How McKinsey, BCG, and the Advisory Industry Sold Saudi Arabia an Impossible Future
McKinsey earned $130 million per year from NEOM. BCG proposed an artificial moon. Oliver Wyman expanded 40% in a single year. PwC was banned for poaching. Deloitte was banned for audit failures. The complete record of the consulting industry's role in enabling — and profiting from — Vision 2030's fantastical ambitions.
The McKinsey Bill: $1 Billion in Fees for Unbuildable Plans
McKinsey earns more than $130 million per year from NEOM. Over nine years, the cumulative bill likely exceeds $1 billion. McKinsey designed the plans. McKinsey audited the plans it designed. The audit found the plans would cost $8.8 trillion and take until 2080. The fee was the same either way.