[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Niels Groeneveld [@nigroeneveld](/creator/twitter/nigroeneveld) on x 12.9K followers Created: 2025-07-26 08:27:40 UTC Inside the Jet Stream: Jeffrey Epstein’s 2016 Visit to Riyadh and the Shadow of Strategic Access When Jeffrey Epstein’s Gulfstream G-V touched down at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on the evening of November 7, 2016, it went largely unnoticed. There were no media reports, no official announcements, and no leaks of lavish receptions. But the flight, departing from Paris and remaining on Saudi soil for nearly two full days, now stands as one of the most opaque and strategically significant movements in Epstein’s documented global itinerary. The data is clear. Public aircraft tracking sources confirm the jet’s path from Le Bourget Airport to Riyadh, where it arrived just after 6:30 p.m. local time. It remained grounded long enough to suggest not just a refueling stop or layover, but a planned visit. Epstein returned to Paris, and shortly thereafter to the United States, before the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election had even fully rippled through Washington. Yet what he did in Riyadh, and with whom he met, remains entirely undocumented in official records. What lends weight to this visit is not only its timing but its overlap with a crucial chapter in Saudi Arabia’s modern history. In late 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—then still Deputy Crown Prince—was in the early stages of consolidating power around his Vision 2030 economic reform program. Though nominally second to then–Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, MBS was already operating with the authority and ambition of a ruler-in-waiting. Foreign dignitaries, tech leaders, and billionaires had begun quietly orbiting his court, drawn by sovereign wealth, the promise of modernization, and access to the largest economy in the Arab world. It was during this same period that MBS is known to have established informal communications with Western leaders, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The now-infamous entanglement between the Saudi crown prince and Bezos—culminating in a private cybersecurity drama and allegations of phone hacking—can be traced back to encrypted communications reportedly initiated in late 2016. The overlap is unmistakable. Epstein arrived in Riyadh just as MBS was cementing his international outreach strategy and courting influence beyond the kingdom’s traditional alliances. Epstein, for his part, later claimed to have been personally acquainted with MBS. According to New York Times reporter James B. Stewart, who met Epstein in 2018, Epstein casually gestured to a framed photograph of MBS in his Manhattan townhouse, saying, “That’s MBS. He’s visited me many times. We talk often.” The comment was never verified by the Saudi side, and no photographic or diplomatic record of such meetings has ever surfaced. Still, the 2016 flight raises the possibility that Epstein’s presence in Riyadh was not merely opportunistic but strategic—perhaps even collaborative. Several plausible motivations for Epstein’s visit emerge from the timing and context. One is financial. MBS was actively pursuing foreign investment for Vision 2030, and Epstein had a well-known reputation as a fixer, financier, and intermediary with access to tech billionaires, hedge funds, and government contacts. Another possibility is diplomatic or intelligence-related. Epstein’s longstanding ties to individuals adjacent to intelligence services—Ehud Barak, Ghislaine Maxwell, and perhaps even the Saudi-linked Prince Bandar—suggest that he may have served as an informal channel for sensitive discussions or vetting. What remains unproven is whether Epstein’s presence in Riyadh had any direct bearing on internal Saudi power politics. Yet the visit occurred just months before MBS ousted MbN as Crown Prince in a nonviolent palace coup that shocked even veteran Saudi-watchers. In hindsight, every meeting, contact, or access point to the royal court during that window deserves scrutiny. Was Epstein attempting to position himself on the right side of history, leveraging his elite connections in the West to offer something useful to MBS? Or was he merely testing the limits of his reach, seeking favor in a new geopolitical orbit? The silence around this visit is telling. No other Middle East travel by Epstein has been confirmed through aviation logs or manifest data. No partner or co-passenger has been identified. And unlike other known trips—to Paris, New Mexico, or the Caribbean—no personal accounts or leaked images have emerged from Riyadh. It is as if the trip occurred inside a vacuum of accountability, shielded from the usual signals that surround global movers. But jet logs do not lie. And their convergence with a critical moment in Saudi power realignment casts this forgotten flight in a new light. It may have been a detour. It may have been a high-stakes audition. Or it may have been something far more consequential—an undocumented entry into the shifting architecture of Middle Eastern power. Either way, it happened. And in a world where access is currency, Epstein’s arrival in Riyadh was not accidental.  XXX engagements  **Related Topics** [paris](/topic/paris) [international airport](/topic/international-airport) [gulfstream](/topic/gulfstream) [jeffrey epsteins](/topic/jeffrey-epsteins) [Post Link](https://x.com/nigroeneveld/status/1949023805113827596)
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Niels Groeneveld @nigroeneveld on x 12.9K followers
Created: 2025-07-26 08:27:40 UTC
Inside the Jet Stream: Jeffrey Epstein’s 2016 Visit to Riyadh and the Shadow of Strategic Access
When Jeffrey Epstein’s Gulfstream G-V touched down at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on the evening of November 7, 2016, it went largely unnoticed. There were no media reports, no official announcements, and no leaks of lavish receptions. But the flight, departing from Paris and remaining on Saudi soil for nearly two full days, now stands as one of the most opaque and strategically significant movements in Epstein’s documented global itinerary.
The data is clear. Public aircraft tracking sources confirm the jet’s path from Le Bourget Airport to Riyadh, where it arrived just after 6:30 p.m. local time. It remained grounded long enough to suggest not just a refueling stop or layover, but a planned visit. Epstein returned to Paris, and shortly thereafter to the United States, before the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election had even fully rippled through Washington. Yet what he did in Riyadh, and with whom he met, remains entirely undocumented in official records.
What lends weight to this visit is not only its timing but its overlap with a crucial chapter in Saudi Arabia’s modern history. In late 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—then still Deputy Crown Prince—was in the early stages of consolidating power around his Vision 2030 economic reform program. Though nominally second to then–Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, MBS was already operating with the authority and ambition of a ruler-in-waiting. Foreign dignitaries, tech leaders, and billionaires had begun quietly orbiting his court, drawn by sovereign wealth, the promise of modernization, and access to the largest economy in the Arab world.
It was during this same period that MBS is known to have established informal communications with Western leaders, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The now-infamous entanglement between the Saudi crown prince and Bezos—culminating in a private cybersecurity drama and allegations of phone hacking—can be traced back to encrypted communications reportedly initiated in late 2016. The overlap is unmistakable. Epstein arrived in Riyadh just as MBS was cementing his international outreach strategy and courting influence beyond the kingdom’s traditional alliances.
Epstein, for his part, later claimed to have been personally acquainted with MBS. According to New York Times reporter James B. Stewart, who met Epstein in 2018, Epstein casually gestured to a framed photograph of MBS in his Manhattan townhouse, saying, “That’s MBS. He’s visited me many times. We talk often.” The comment was never verified by the Saudi side, and no photographic or diplomatic record of such meetings has ever surfaced. Still, the 2016 flight raises the possibility that Epstein’s presence in Riyadh was not merely opportunistic but strategic—perhaps even collaborative.
Several plausible motivations for Epstein’s visit emerge from the timing and context. One is financial. MBS was actively pursuing foreign investment for Vision 2030, and Epstein had a well-known reputation as a fixer, financier, and intermediary with access to tech billionaires, hedge funds, and government contacts. Another possibility is diplomatic or intelligence-related. Epstein’s longstanding ties to individuals adjacent to intelligence services—Ehud Barak, Ghislaine Maxwell, and perhaps even the Saudi-linked Prince Bandar—suggest that he may have served as an informal channel for sensitive discussions or vetting.
What remains unproven is whether Epstein’s presence in Riyadh had any direct bearing on internal Saudi power politics. Yet the visit occurred just months before MBS ousted MbN as Crown Prince in a nonviolent palace coup that shocked even veteran Saudi-watchers. In hindsight, every meeting, contact, or access point to the royal court during that window deserves scrutiny. Was Epstein attempting to position himself on the right side of history, leveraging his elite connections in the West to offer something useful to MBS? Or was he merely testing the limits of his reach, seeking favor in a new geopolitical orbit?
The silence around this visit is telling. No other Middle East travel by Epstein has been confirmed through aviation logs or manifest data. No partner or co-passenger has been identified. And unlike other known trips—to Paris, New Mexico, or the Caribbean—no personal accounts or leaked images have emerged from Riyadh. It is as if the trip occurred inside a vacuum of accountability, shielded from the usual signals that surround global movers.
But jet logs do not lie. And their convergence with a critical moment in Saudi power realignment casts this forgotten flight in a new light. It may have been a detour. It may have been a high-stakes audition. Or it may have been something far more consequential—an undocumented entry into the shifting architecture of Middle Eastern power.
Either way, it happened. And in a world where access is currency, Epstein’s arrival in Riyadh was not accidental.
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