Saudi Arabia Lures Executives to Neom With Million-Dollar Salaries, Zero Taxes

Saudi Arabia’s megadevelopment Neom is paying senior executives roughly $1.1 million each annually, according to an internal Neom document, showing how the kingdom is using large pay packages to lure global talent to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s national transformation plan.

Neom is the most ambitious project in Saudi Arabia and one of dozens of real-estate developments and new companies set up to drive Prince Mohammed’s social and economic reforms. The kingdom is recruiting foreign executives to lead new industries—tourism, technology and entertainment—that were, until recently, largely nonexistent in the kingdom.

…The $1.1 million average salary of Neom’s c-suite level executives is detailed in an internal list of compensation for different positions. It compares with an average salary of $830,000 in 2021 for chief executives of the 3,000 largest listed U.S. companies, according to data from MyLogIQ LLC, which tracks public filings. It is also more than twice as much as American c-suite level executives typically make, the data shows, with chief financial officers making $486,000 and chief marketing officers $416,000, on average.