Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci

Martin Sorrell and Anthony Scaramucci are the top communicators penciled in at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's so-called Davos in the Desert conference that opened today in Riyadh.

The session comes a little more than a year after a squad of Saudi hitmen tortured, murdered and dismembered Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.

Sorrell, ex-WPP chief and now executive chairman of S4 Capital, and Scaramucci, SkyBridge Capital founder and 10-day White House communications director, will share a 20-minute panel on Oct. 30. They will discuss the "winners" (companies, candidates, ideas, policies and trends) of 2020.

Financiers dominated today's program. Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group; John Waldron, Goldman Sachs president; and Ray Dalio, co-chairman Bridgewater, served on the "how will a new era of economic ambition shape the global economy" panel.

Another highlight: Eric Cantor, Moelis & Co vice-chairman and former Virginia Republican Congressman, sat on the "investment for impact: can global CEOs find ways to meet the UN's sustainability goals" panel.

Prince Mohammed has lined up an array of "knowledge partners" for the Future Investment Initiative conference being held at the Ritz-Carlton, where he locked up Saudi royals and squeezed them for cash.

Those partners include Oliver Wyman, PWC, strategy&, Deloitte, KPMG, Palladium, EY, Roland Berger, World Ocean Council and SIA Partners.