User:Darley-m/Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Farhan

His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud is the first and current Minister of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is in charge of various key positions directly related to the execution of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of Culture, he was the chairman of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG).

Early life and education
Prince Badr was born on September 16, 1985. He studied at King Saud University in Riyadh, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in law.

Business career
Prince Badr began his career as a business executive and investor with interests in energy, real estate and telecoms.

In December 2015 Prince Badr was appointed chairman of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), one of the largest media publishing companies in the Middle East, which subsequently expanded its operations into the United States and United Kingdom. Further developments during his tenure included a deal in September 2017 with Bloomberg to launch its first Arabic-language news service, Bloomberg Al Arabiya; followed by the acquisition the following month of a 51% stake in the Saudi online financial news service Argaam.

Royal Commission for Al-Ula
In June 2017 Prince Badr was appointed as governor of the Royal Commission for Al-Ula, a newly established body to develop the 2,000 year-old historical site of Al-Ula, in Madinah province, into a cultural attraction. In April the following year he signed an agreement with French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian to involve French expertise in the restoration of Al-Ula over a ten-year period.

Further partnerships developed by Prince Badr for the promotion of Al-Ula include a planned exhibition by the Paris-based Arab World Institute, and an initiative with Harvard University to encourage scientific and archaeological publications in Madinah.

In August 2018 Prince Badr announced several new initiatives for Al-Ula aimed at preserving the region’s heritage and developing its infrastructure. The initiatives include an international scholarships program for Al-Ula students, and a community program that will allow residents to have a direct role in the preservation of Al-Ula’s heritage.

Minister of Culture and other positions
In April 2018 Prince Badr was appointed to the board of the General Authority for Culture, the government body responsible for promoting Saudi culture as part of the country’s Vision 2030 program.

On 2 June 2018 Prince Badr was appointed as Saudi Arabia’s first Minister of Culture and stepped down as chairman of SRMG. The Ministry of Culture’s mandate is to advance the cultural programs within Saudi Vision 2030. In his first official statement, Prince Badr said the ministry would seek to enhance Saudi identity and would support the efforts of young people in creative fields.

Salvator Mundi
On December 7, 2017 the Wall Street Journal reported that Prince Badr had acted as an intermediary for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in the $450 million purchase the previous month of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. The following day it was announced that the painting would be available for public view at the Louvre Abu Dhabi following its acquisition by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism in the UAE, on whose behalf Prince Badr had acted.