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McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group on Aug. 10 reported to the Justice Dept. a combined $7.6M in fees that they received three years ago from Saudi Aramco to further Saudi Arabia's diplomatic standing around the world.
McKinsey hauled in $4.7M on June 1, 2017, for its work on behalf of the Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs to establish a strategic partnership office. The entity was to help manage and improve Saudi Arabia's relationships with numerous countries throughout the world.
According to the filing, McKinsey also conducted market testing of various sectors of the Saudi economy; analyzed and explored investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia; commissioned a third-party public opinion survey of American attitudes towards Saudi Arabia; prepared Saudi officials for engagement with certain US private and public sector counterparts in Saudi Arabia; and assisted in arranging and supporting meetings in the US between Saudi officials and think tanks and/or corporations in various sectors including finance and technology.
The work ended June 30, 2016.
BCG received $2.8M on Jan. 17, 2017 for helping to develop a 21st Century Saudi-US Partnership, and assess reactions and aspirations of key U.S. stakeholders to such a partnership.
As part of this engagement, BCG was tasked with exploring the potential for a strengthened Saudi – U.S partnership along social and economic dimensions.
The firm also identified the best engagement leaders in the areas of education, entertainment, manufacturing, infrastructure, finance and defense, to cultivate in order to help further the interests of Saudi Arabia.
That project ended June 30, 2016.
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company banned by Defense Secretary Hegseth, has hired Ballard Partners for DC representation.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development enrolls Venable for government relations services.
Coinbase has hired Checkmate Government Relations, which has close ties to the Trump administration, to handle matters related to digital assets as the Senate works on the Clarity Act.
Peter Thiel-backed Palantir Technologies has added Democratic firm Ferox Strategies to its DC lobbying line-up to handle data analytics and technology issues.
Former congressmen Joe Crowley (D-NY) and Jeff Denham (R-CA) have signed on to handle the “new” TikTok on issues related to internet technology and learning-enabled platforms.
