Saudi Arabia’s $50B Neom megacity grinds to a halt

Saudi Arabia's futuristic megaproject Neom has come to a standstill after the kingdom spent more than $50 billion on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's vision of a sci-fi metropolis, according to a Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 2.28% investigation published on Tuesday.wsj

The report, by WSJ journalist Eliot Brown, draws on internal documents and satellite imagery to show that construction on all major Neom projects has stopped or is winding down. The kingdom is now spending billions more to exit contracts rather than complete the planned city, leaving mammoth-sized partially built structures to gather sand in the desert.ontimebrief+2

A $16 Billion Exit Bill

The financial toll extends well beyond the $50 billion already spent. According to Semafor, Neom's budget for 2026 through 2030 includes 60 billion riyals — roughly $16 billion — in anticipated payments to contractors to terminate long-term agreements. Work on The Line, the project's centerpiece 100-mile mirrored skyscraper, has been paused until at least 2030.semafor+1

The WSJ attributed the halt not to a single decision or external shock but to the extraordinary cost of the design catching up with what the kingdom could fund. The project, originally announced in 2017 with a $500 billion price tag, was to be funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund under the direct authority of the crown prince.europeanbusinessmagazine+1

A Pattern of Retrenchment

The collapse did not happen overnight. The Financial Times reported in late 2025 that Neom's ambitions were unraveling, undone by "the laws of physics and finance". By January 2026, Saudi Arabia had indefinitely postponed the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were to be held at Trojena, a planned year-round ski resort within the Neom complex.euronews+1

In April, PIF governor Yasir al-Rumayyan told Al Arabiya that no Neom projects had been cancelled, though subsequent reporting showed work stopping across the site. The WSJ report did not carry comment from Neom, the Saudi government, or the PIF on the halt or the fate of unfinished structures.facebook+1

What Remains

What is left is a physical record of ambition outpacing capacity: partially completed megastructures in the northwestern Saudi desert with no announced timeline for completion, mothballing, or removal.wsj+1