Saudia in talks with SpaceX to outfit aircraft with Starlink

Saudia Airlines is talking with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink’s high-speed internet to more than 140 of its aircraft.

If signed, the deal would mark SpaceX’s entry into the Gulf’s largest economy, even as local rival Neo Space Group races to develop its own in-flight service, Bloomberg reports.

While Saudia, the country’s flagship airline, did not comment on the news, its chief guest experience officer, Rossen Dimitrov, said in a post on LinkedIn that he recently toured SpaceX’s industrial complex in Texas to explore “the exciting future they are bringing to aviation.”

Starlink’s airline service follows a subscription model, with upfront hardware costs of $300,000 to $500,000 per plane plus a monthly fee per seat.

SpaceX is also in talks with Emirates, Flydubai, and Gulf Air, the news agency added. 

UAE, U.S. presidents follow up on $1.4 trillion investment pledge

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone conversation to sum up a series of investment deals and high-level meetings between the two allies over the past week.

The Abu Dhabi-Washington call on Tuesday followed the announcement that the UAE will invest $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade, focusing AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.

The two presidents discussed Trump’s meeting with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Adviser and Sheikh Mohamed’s brother, who leads many of the country’s largest companies and sovereign wealth funds.

Sheikh Tahnoon talked to an array of cabinet secretaries and also held meetings with heads of the biggest tech companies, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Palantir’s Alex Karp and xAI’s Elon Musk.

Trump’s golden visa stirs interest among Gulf’s wealthy investors

Every one of the six countries in the GCC offers its own golden visa program aimed at attracting high-net-worth foreigners to help bolster their economies.

Now Gulf investors themselves are looking into the $5 million “gold card” visa that U.S. President Donald Trump said would soon be introduced, Riyadh-based Arab News reports.

Among the attractions are America’s relative economic stability, greater access to markets in the U.S., and the prestige of residency there.

One Saudi investor told the newspaper that the Trump golden visa could strengthen economic ties between the U.S. and the Arab world while driving investments into a variety of key industries.

Financial advisors turn to Gulf’s ultra-high-net-worth families

More financial services firms that cater to ultra-high-net-worth families are popping up in the Arabian Peninsula as family offices emerge as one of the fastest-growing segments for wealth creation.

Octagon, a Dubai-headquartered family office-as-a-service firm, announced on Thursday it is now taking UAE clients.

The Great Wealth Transfer is forecasted to pass nearly $20 trillion from the older generations to Gen-X, Millennial and Gen-Z adult children and grandchildren over the next two decades.

This phenomenon will be acutely felt in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where family businesses make up about 90% and 60% of private companies, respectively, according to government figures.

More family offices are cropping up to deploy this expanding pot of wealth as diversification from oil picks up pace in the region and opportunities for investment expand.

Octagon says it is geared specifically to family offices – for established and newly incorporated entities – with services including asset management, corporate services, business management and investment development in “lifestyle verticals” such as real estate, education and health.

Family office clients “have different wealth management perspectives – with more diversified portfolios, and a greater technology and impact focus,” the company said in a media release.

Oman looks to introduce personal income tax on high-earners

Oman is pushing forward with plans to impose a personal income tax on high-earning citizens and expats that would make it the first member of the GCC to take such a step.

The proposal, which has been floated by the government for more than a decade, was recently presented for consideration to the State Council, The National reports.

Introducing a personal income tax is in line with the country’s efforts to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on oil. If enacted, the tax would probably apply to citizens with net global income of $1 million or more and foreign nationals on Oman-sourced income above $100,000.

The proposed tax rates range between 5% to 9% for foreign nationals and a flat rate of 5% for Omanis.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have refrained from taxing individuals to make their countries more attractive to international companies and candidates for skilled jobs.