{"id":115734,"date":"2026-06-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/?p=115734"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:12:37","slug":"world-cup-and-the-worlds-biggest-ipo-in-one-weekend-pass-the-popcorn-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/2026\/06\/12\/world-cup-and-the-worlds-biggest-ipo-in-one-weekend-pass-the-popcorn-please\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup and the world\u2019s biggest IPO in one weekend? Pass the popcorn, please."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a huge weekend for Middle East finance nerds who are also football fans<\/strong> \u2014 the venn diagram there is \u2026 nearly a circle? We have the start of trading of SpaceX shares later today and a weekend of World Cup matches to which to look forward, with Qatar taking to the pitch tomorrow plus Morocco and T\u00fcrkiye each playing on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect much more sleep as next week gets underway: <\/strong>Egypt and Tunisia each have games on Monday, while Saudi and Iran play on Tuesday, and Iraq, Jordan, and Algeria all have matches Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Our Lede this morning to send you off into the weekend: <\/strong>A look at the unglamorous \u2014 but critically important and recently controversial \u2014 financial instrument that is the life blood of the consumer and SME finance industries in MENA+. <\/p>\n

Also today: <\/strong>Gulf sovereigns show no sign their appetite for AI investments is waning despite the lingering overhang from America\u2019s war with Iran. <\/p>\n

Worth reading this morning: <\/strong>Jeff Bezos tells the Financial Times that far from a jobs apocalypse or paperclip-driven extinction-level event, he thinks AI will usher in \u201cmultiple golden ages.\u201d<\/a> His new USD 41 bn Prometheus lab aims to use the technology to transform everything from manufacturing and space to biotech. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are jumping to the conclusion that the jobs are all going to go away . . . I <\/strong>think these people are just wrong<\/strong>,\u201d Bezos tells the salmon-colored paper, saying that \u201call of the things that I work on today have something to do with AI. I think you\u2019re going to see a whole bunch of incredible miracles unfold here in the next decade.\u201d <\/p>\n

From Swole Bezos to Jeff The Optimist in one clean act. <\/strong>Here\u2019s hoping. \u2013Patrick and Salma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plus: A look at one of the most boring (but important) financial instruments in MENA+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2604],"tags":[2538,2603,2684,2925],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-115734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opening-note","tag-enterpriseam","tag-opening-note","tag-spacex","tag-world-cup","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"d04acab5-3d15-4b01-ae32-a2c12ec4377c","order":"1","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/6\/775.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Pass the popcorn","related_issue":[115732],"teaser":"Plus: A look at one of the most boring (but important) financial instruments in MENA+"},"yoast_head":"\nWorld Cup and the world\u2019s biggest IPO in one weekend? 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