Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (born August 31, 1985, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister since 2022, and de facto ruler. He is the eldest child of King Salman (from his third wife, Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan bin Hathleen al-Ajmi, of the Al Ajman tribe), the seventh son overall of his father, and the eldest of his mother's six children, with full siblings including Prince Turki and Prince Khalid. Raised primarily in Riyadh, he attended private schools and earned a bachelor's degree in law from King Saud University, graduating second in his class, without studying abroad. Early in his career, he worked in the private sector, founding several firms, and held positions such as secretary-general of the Riyadh Competitive Council and adviser to his father. His rapid ascent began in 2009 as a special adviser to his father, accelerating after Salman's 2015 ascension to the throne, when he became the youngest-ever Minister of Defense and head of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs. In 2017, he was named Crown Prince, sidelining Mohammed bin Nayef, further centralizing power.

His tenure features ambitious Vision 2030 reforms to diversify the economy and modernize society, including allowing women to drive, but has faced criticism for the Yemen war (ongoing since 2015, causing a humanitarian crisis), the 2017 Qatar blockade, a 2017 anti-corruption purge detaining princes and businessmen (seen by some as power consolidation), and the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which he denied amid U.S. intelligence linking it to him. MBS has pursued aggressive foreign policies countering Iran, engaged in diplomatic outreach to the U.S. and Russia, and maintained close ties to U.S. officials through extensive foreign influence operations, including lobbying, public relations campaigns, strategic partnerships with think tanks, and former U.S. government officials. He faces allegations of deploying online troll armies to silence critics, as reported by The New York Times. Married since 2008 to Sara bint Mashhoor bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, he has five children.