Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Biography

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born in Riyadh on 31 December 1935, a son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, which made him one of the seven full brothers known as the Sudairi Seven. He was educated at the Princes' School in Riyadh, where he studied religion and Arabic.

He was appointed deputy governor of Riyadh Province in 1954 at the age of eighteen and governor the following year. After a gap in the early 1960s he returned as governor in 1963 and held the post until 2011, overseeing Riyadh's growth from a mid-sized town into a large city and acting as a channel for foreign investment and contacts with Western governments. He also headed a royal family council set up to settle disputes among the princes.

In November 2011 he became minister of defence, and in June 2012, after the death of his brother Nayef, crown prince and deputy prime minister. He succeeded his half-brother Abdullah as king on 23 January 2015. His reign brought the Saudi intervention in the Yemeni civil war, the Vision 2030 economic programme and the 2017 decree allowing women to drive. He raised his son Mohammed bin Salman to crown prince in 2017 and handed him the office of prime minister in 2022, and Mohammed is widely regarded as the country's de facto ruler.