Domestically, MBS expanded his reach by turning to outside consulting firms to launch a plan to overhaul the kingdom's economy. His goal is to drastically reduce the country's dependence on oil exports after a plunge in prices nearly crippled Saudi Arabia's ability to spend on national projects and foreign efforts.

MBS vowed to end Saudi Arabia's "addiction" to oil, and pushed through politically-sensitive austerity measures that curbed spending on subsidies and the public sector -- where the majority of Saudis are employed.

His Vision 2030 plan and its accompanying National Transformation Plan grabbed international headlines when he announced the country would publicly list a percentage of Saudi Aramco.

Social reforms, he's argued, are also needed in order to bring the deeply conservative nation into the 21st Century. MBS has promised amusement parks and more fun for his generation of millennials. For the first time in decades, Saudis can attend musical concerts in the kingdom and the powers of country's feared religious police have been curbed.