Salman of Saudi Arabia

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: سلمان بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, romanized: Salmān ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz Āl Saʻūd; born 31 December 1935) is King of Saudi Arabia, having reigned since 2015. He is a son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and a member of the House of Saud. Salman is the third-oldest living head of state and the oldest living monarch. He is the first Saudi head of state born after the unification of Saudi Arabia. Salman is a son of King Abdulaziz and Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, making him one of the Sudairi Seven. He was the deputy governor of Riyadh and later the governor of Riyadh for 48 years from 1963 to 2011. He was then appointed Minister of Defense and was named crown prince in 2012. Salman became king in 2015 upon the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah. He has a reported personal wealth of at least US$18 billion, which makes him the third wealthiest royal in the world. Salman's major initiatives as king include the Saudi intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, Saudi Vision 2030, and a 2017 decree allowing Saudi women to drive. His seventh son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is considered the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia due to the King's poor health and Mohammed's own political maneuvering. Mohammed replaced his father as prime minister in 2022, making Salman the first king since Saud in 1964 not to serve as head of government.