Uber CEO Won't Attend Saudi Conference Because of Missing Journalist

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is withdrawing from a major business conference in Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, CNN is reporting.

Khosrowshahi was scheduled to speak at the Future Investment Initiative conference later this month. The conference is hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the news network.

"I'm very troubled by the reports to date about Jamal Khashoggi," Khosrowshahi said late Thursday. "We are following the situation closely, and unless a substantially different set of facts emerges, I won't be attending the FII conference in Riyadh."

CNN noted Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had invested $3.5 billion in Uber in 2016.

Khosrowshahi is just the latest to pull out of the conference. The New York Times announced it has canceled its planned participation in the FII. Ariana Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post also has withdrawn, CNN said..

Turkish security officials say Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on orders from the royal court, The New York Times reported

Attributing the information to an unnamed Turkish security official, the Times said Khashoggi was killed within two hours of his arrival at the consulate by a team of Saudi agents who dismembered his body with a bone saw.

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