The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute says the tenth edition of its flagship conference, FII10 “The Power of Legacy,” originally scheduled for October 26–29, 2026, in Riyadh, “will now take place in 2027,” according to a message from its CEO, Princess Maha Bint Mishari Al Saud, on the FII Institute website. “We will announce the new 2027 dates very soon,” the message says. It adds that “All current registrations and partnerships remain completely valid” and that FII Institute teams will contact people directly over the coming days. The event page now carries the line “Postponed to 2027”. CNBC and Reuters place the announcement on Monday, Oct. 19.

The organizer frames the move around the anniversary itself. “Because this is our landmark tenth edition, we want to ensure it delivers the full scale, extraordinary quality, and unforgettable impact that our community has come to expect and truly deserves,” the message says. The text this desk saved from the FII site does not mention security, the Houthis or the war. The FII Institute’s event page says the conference would have run at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, and that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched the first edition in 2017.

News outlets draw the security link. CNBC says Saudi Arabia postponed the conference “as Iran-backed Houthi militants have escalated missile and drone attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks.” Reuters, in a report carried by The Hindu BusinessLine, says the decision came “following deadly attacks which rocked the kingdom in recent weeks as the Middle East conflict widens, disrupting business.” The National says Saudi Arabia postponed the gathering “after a surge in Houthi attacks on the kingdom.”

The figures for the airport attacks do not line up. CNBC says the Houthis attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Oct. 10, “leaving at least 12 people dead and more than 300 injured.” Reuters says the Houthis have struck military, energy and civilian infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, including state oil company Aramco’s headquarters and Riyadh’s international airport, where it says strikes killed at least 18 people and wounded hundreds this month. The Reuters number covers strikes across the month, while CNBC ties its number to the Oct. 10 attack, which may account for part of the gap; this desk could not reconcile the two.

Fighting went on as the news broke. CNBC says the Houthis claimed on Monday to have attacked King Khalid International Airport again, along with Abha International Airport, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu, the Shaybah oilfield and Saudi naval forces. CNBC also says a spokesperson for the kingdom’s armed forces said the Saudi military destroyed several drones launched at the Riyadh region on Friday and Saturday, and that missiles launched over the Red Sea got intercepted on Friday, including one heading toward Yanbu. This desk did not see an independent check of the Houthi claims.

Reporting before the announcement pointed the same way. Reuters says it reported earlier on Monday that the in-person event got scrapped and that organizers weighed postponing it, and that it reported last week that organizers had considered a hybrid format so executives could tune in remotely. Reuters also says Semafor reported on Monday that big banks and private-equity firms had privately relayed safety concerns to PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and that CEOs feel pressure to attend. This desk did not read those earlier Reuters reports or the Semafor report. CNBC says it heard that some participants and speakers had planned to fly first to Bahrain and then drive five hours to Riyadh. The National quotes one unnamed source who said their company had stayed committed to attending despite the airport attacks and described the mood as “calm and level-headed”.

The guest lists that outlets cite differ. CNBC says speakers listed for the conference included JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Citigroup’s Jane Fraser. Reuters, citing a draft programme, names Solomon, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Citi CEO Jane Fraser. The National lists Fink and Dimon among those expected at the gathering.

The conference carries weight for the kingdom’s economic plans, the outlets say. CNBC says the sovereign wealth fund launched FII in 2017, that it has played a key part in Riyadh’s plans to diversify its oil-dependent economy, and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the NEOM megaproject at the first conference. Reuters says the state-backed event has become known informally as “Davos in the Desert,” a nod to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Switzerland. The National calls FII a platform for the crown prince to promote Vision 2030, the kingdom’s economic diversification programme.

Other events in the kingdom moved too. The National says Intersec Saudi Arabia 2026, due Nov. 16–18, will now take place in October 2027, according to its organizer, Messe Frankfurt Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudi Retail Forum, set for Nov. 19, got postponed to March 2027. The National quotes Messe Frankfurt Saudi Arabia: “The decision follows close monitoring of recent developments in Saudi Arabia and was taken in co-ordination with the venue, the local government partners, and the event’s local and international stakeholders.” The National describes both events as cancelled in its summary and in one line of its text, while the details it reports give new 2027 dates. The National also cites a Reuters report that Saudi Arabia and the EU postponed a planned summit. Reuters says the US-Israeli war with Iran this year has disrupted the Gulf’s calendar of events, with several conferences cancelled, postponed or retooled in the UAE and Qatar earlier in the year.

One quote in circulation does not match the organizer’s text. The National, in its summary bullets, says the FII Institute delayed FII10 to ensure the “milestone tenth edition delivers the full scale, quality, and impact that our partners, members, speakers, and delegates expect.” This desk did not find that wording in the message on the FII site, which instead speaks of “the full scale, extraordinary quality, and unforgettable impact that our community has come to expect and truly deserves.” The National’s article body quotes the site’s wording, though it renders “tenth” as “10th”. No new dates had appeared on the FII conferences page when this story went up.