Argaam Weekend |Present in the Race, Outside the Boardroom

Present in the Race, Outside the Boardroom

20^thJune 2026

● Why Construction Costs Defy the Wage Advantage in Saudi Arabia
● What $100 Million a Year in Formula One Buys Saudi Arabia — and What It Does Not
● A Structural Assessment of Ownership Concentration and Capital Allocation in Saudi Arabia's Financial Market

Topics of the Week

Why Construction Costs Defy the Wage Advantage in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh and Paris have little in common. One is a capital city reinventing itself at breakneck speed. The other is a centuries-old city where planning permission for a rooftop terrace takes six months.
Yet it costs almost exactly the same to put up a building in either place: $3,112 per square metre in Riyadh against $3,153 in Paris. Singapore $3,104 and Brisbane $3,135 sit in the same bracket.

What $100 Million a Year in Formula One Buys Saudi Arabia — and What It Does Not

Saudi Arabia pays Formula One more than $100 million every year just to participate in the sport. Around $55 million of that is the annual fee Liberty Media, an American media and entertainment conglomerate that owns the commercial rights to Formula One, charges to keep the Saudi Grand Prix on the calendar.

A Structural Assessment of Ownership Concentration and Capital Allocation in Saudi Arabia's Financial Market

Saudi Arabia's capital market has undergone a structural transformation that deserves to be assessed on its own terms. Between 2014 and 2024, Tadawul's main market hosted 91 IPOs for an aggregate offering of approximately $65 billion - excluding Saudi Aramco’s secondary offering of about $11.2 billion completed in June 2024.