Saudi deputy crown prince Muhammad bin Salman’s proposal to privatize the oil behemoth Aramco is the biggest news in global business this year. Saudi citizens — not to mention Aramco executives — are stunned. After the January announcement, confusion reigned, with officials at times denying and at other times confirming that exploration and production assets — including the country’s prized oil wells — would indeed be part of the privatization.

In a follow-up interview with Bloomberg on April 1 (once again bypassing Saudi media outlets), the crown prince tried to put a shine on the plan, saying the sale would fund a “$2 trillion megafund” as part of an “Economic Vision 2030” to diversify the economy and make investments the principal source of government revenue instead of oil. The privatization, it was revealed, would happen as soon as 2017, with an initial offering of 5 percent of the company’s stocks.

The thirty-one-year-old deputy crown prince is the Saudi king’s favorite son and has ambitious plans for the country. But the 2015 collapse in oil prices has left him short on cash. His solution: sell the family silverware.