After months of setbacks, the international and domestic legs of the Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO) were pulled. The reason: King Salman stepped in to shelve it, three sources with ties to government insiders told Reuters. The sources said that even though the king’s decision was a blow to the prince’s agenda, he is still the favourite son and heir with a major influence on policy. “I’m not sure that I would see it as an undermining of the rule of the crown prince. It’s much more likely ensuring that he doesn’t go off the deep end,” said James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore’s RSIS.