On Wednesday night in Miami, billionaires and royals waited in line to get a seat for President Trump’s speech at the Saudi Arabia-backed Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit.
Everyone from Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt to WeWork founder Adam Neumann queued to get a seat in the conference hall, or even in the overflow area. Moguls texted FII organizers and PR reps for seats directly in the President’s sightline or near some of his most important allies — namely Elon Musk.
Neumann, sources said, didn’t have much luck getting inside either room.
“You had queues of the world’s top investors … people who don’t often queue,” an FII spokesperson told NYNext.
The following day, attendees flocked to hear President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner interview Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff where the pair discussed whether “a new era of US-Middle East Economic Cooperation Dawning?” Sources told The Post the chat was oversubscribed with standing room only.
The FII Summit runs through Friday at the Faena Hotel and forum next door. It’s the third such FII event held in Miami.
This year the conference — launched less than a decade ago in Riyadh — showed a new level of power and political influence. Last year, the Miami event attracted serious investors but no notable sitting government officials from the Biden administration.
Since launching in the Saudi Arabian capital in 2017, FII has expanded to a few other cities. In addition to its Miami presence, it debuted in Brazil in 2024, and there are plans to expand to Europe and Asia.
While it’s not technically affiliated with the Saudi government, it is under the umbrella of the Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund PIF (the public investment fund). The event faced some controversy following the death of journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in 2017.
FII has consistently drawn wealthy and powerful individuals, including Steven Mnuchin and Jared Kushner, who attended the Riyadh summit during Trump’s first term.
At the 2024 Riyadh summit, held in October, over $70 billion in deals were generated, an FII official told NYNext, thanks in part to the Saudis ability to make serious investments.
This year, attendees included Citadel’s CEO Ken Griffin, Andreessen Horowitz founder Ben Horowitz, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber founder Travis Kalanick, Vista Equity founder Robert Smith, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker, Point72 founder Steve Cohen, tennis star Serena Williams and more than 1400 others.
A representative for FII explains the event is “invite only” but notes companies can pay $2 million for a “strategic partnership” and individuals can apply for a $15,000 annual membership that includes access to conferences.
The presence of Trump this year further solidified FII’s status as an important political event.
In fact, some attendees told NYNext they believe it has surpassed the World Economic Forum in Davos — which was notably subdued this year — in terms of relevance for both business and politics.
“As a third year veteran of FII Miami, the energy and enthusiasm from the leaders of the universe both on the new administration and its Middle Eastern ties is evident,” Anna Kunz, managing director at CIFC Asset Management, said. “This has been crowned the must-attend event of the billionaire business social circuit … it’s way better than Davos.”
For entrepreneurs and founders looking to raise money, it’s been a boom time.
Joshua Browder, the CEO of fintech company DoNotPay Inc., told NYNext that the event is flooded with attendees excited by a new era that celebrates technology and investment.
“We’re in an AI utopian era with years’ worth of progress in the ecosystem in a few months,” he said. “There’s a recognition now of the importance of investing in tech… the Biden administration didn’t embrace technology … they hated tech people.”
Along with a shifting attitude towards technology, the new era reflects a change in navigating relations with the Saudis.
Crown Prince MBS has promised to invest $600 billion in the U.S. during Trump’s second term — which may have also been instrumental in the President’s decision to speak, sources said. Trump has also suggested his first trip abroad may be to Riyadh — as it was during his first term — underscoring the continued importance of the region.
“It’s becoming a new international hub especially because of the increasing relationship with the Gulf — talks about Ukraine and Russia are in Saudi, Witkoff is speaking with the Qataris on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement,” an executive close to the Trump administration said. “Trump is increasingly working with Gulf Countries to solve problems and do business.”
