King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has approved granting Saudi citizenship to Travis Kalanick, co-founder of Uber, and John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea International Group.

With this, Kalanick and Pagano join an elite list of scientists, innovators, experts, rare specialists, and entrepreneurs who have been granted citizenship.

The newspaper “Asharq Al-Awsat” reported that this decision aligns with the country’s interest in elite scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs, in line with the “Saudi Vision 2030” goals aimed at enhancing an attractive environment to invest in human talents and attract distinguished and creative individuals.

The newspaper noted that Travis and Pagano recently converted to Islam and have successful careers in founding tech startups and developing promising tourism sectors.

Kalanick is one of the most prominent entrepreneurs who ventured into founding startups, with over 26 years of practical experience in the field; he is the co-founder and former CEO of Uber, which was valued at $150 billion from its inception until 2017.

Pagano has 40 years of experience and in 2006 became the president of Baha Mar, a company developing luxury resorts and residential complexes in the Bahamas. He also supervised the development of the $3.6 billion Baha Mar resort.

Source: Saudi media