Saudi Arabia's dystopian The Line project may not be completed

You've probably seen renderings of The Line, a 170 km long, 200 meters wide and 500 meters high megaproject in the middle of the desert. According to WSJ, its real cost has risen from $500 billion to $8.8 trillion. Whether it will be completed in its original form is a big question.

And all because of machinations and dishonesty of officials and top managers.

Empty promises

A recent audit at the NEOM project, which is building The Line, uncovered all the problems. Officials inflated projected hotel and tourism revenues in front of the sheikhs to somehow justify the utopian financial models.

98.5% less

Now instead of 170 kilometers, they expect to build only 2.5 kilometers. They even wanted to reduce the height to 350 meters, but Sheikh Salman refused to change the concept announced to the world. Moreover, in 2024, the general director of the project was fired because of the death of hundreds of workers at the construction site. And such a trail of news noticeably reduces the interest of investors in the project.

To overtake Dubai

$8.8 trillion - this amount is 25 times the annual budget of Saudi Arabia. By comparison, the construction of the Burj Khalifa cost $1.5 billion. The project was scheduled to be completed in 2045. But experts say that with the current pace of construction will drag on until at least 2080.

No turning back

Nevertheless, the sheiks pretend that everything is going well and that the first part of the skyscraper will be delivered in 2034. They even threw a party with Will Smith to celebrate, spending $45 million.

The main beneficiary

Consulting firm McKinsey are the only ones who have made money on The Line project so far. Under the contract, the Saudis pay them $130 million a year. The audit also showed that it was the agency that played a key role in creating inflated forecasts, which allowed the project to move forward in the early stages, hiding the real risks.

Against this background, Dubai looks like a reliable and confident metropolis. Which is realizing its goals.

And gives investors a clear and tangible return of 10-15% per year on average.