Did Saudi Arabia’s crown prince hack the Amazon king?

THREE MONTHS ago, as executives gathered in Riyadh for a conference, a supporter of the Saudi crown prince allowed himself a moment of doubt. The businessman was fond of Muhammad bin Salman’s efforts to open a closed country and diversify its economy. But he fretted that the prince was too impulsive for his own good. He had already locked up relatives, launched an ill-fated war and allegedly murdered a critic. “He can’t get out of his own way,” the businessman said.

On January 22nd UN investigators alleged that the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia may have hacked the mobile phone of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, an e-commerce giant. According to a forensic report prepared for Mr Bezos, the world’s richest man received an infected video file on WhatsApp, a messaging service, sent from a number used by the crown prince. It opened a back door on the billionaire’s phone, which was soon used to steal large amounts of data—though the UN did not say exactly what, or how it was used. It called for an “immediate investigation”. The Saudi embassy in Washington, DC, said the accusations were “absurd”.

Surreal as they may seem, though, the allegations make sense. Last year the National Enquirer, an American tabloid, published an exposé about an extramarital affair...

Read More