After weeks of deadly Houthi attacks, Saudi officials faced a stark choice over the weekend: move the kingdom’s flagship investment conference online and risk diminishing an event that had become a showpiece for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or postpone it altogether.

The dilemma underscored how important the Future Investment Initiative had become to the kingdom’s courtship of global finance. The question was whether a virtual gathering could deliver the dealmaking and high-level networking that had helped FII generate agreements worth more than $50 billion last year alone.

Over a whirlwind 24 hours, the answer became clear. On Sunday, organizers were signaling a shift to a hybrid or virtual format. By Monday, it was clear the conference could not proceed in person. By 6:00 pm local time organizers confirmed that the FII would be postponed until 2027.

The annual event was due to start Oct. 26 and slated to feature the likes of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon and BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink.

Last year’s opening panels alone featured finance and tech executives leading firms with nearly $3 trillion in combined market value. Such firms are key to the crown prince’s attempts to diversify the Saudi economy.

The conference counts the kingdom’s $905 billion sovereign wealth fund as its founding partner and is ultimately overseen by the de facto ruler, meaning the final decisions involved some of the highest levels of Saudi leadership. At stake was not just the format, but whether the conference could deliver what organizers and participants expected of it.

That thinking eventually sealed the decision. In a short statement announcing the postponement, officials said they wanted the milestone edition to deliver the full scale, quality and impact that speakers and delegates had come to expect.

“A decade of partnership and shared vision deserves nothing less than our absolute best,” Maha Bint Mishari Al Saud, chief executive officer of the FII Institute, which organizes the event, said in a statement.

Even as news of the postponement emerged, the security risks facing Saudi Arabia were on display, with air-raid sirens sounding in Riyadh. King Khalid International Airport curtailed flights until further notice, effectively restricting the main air gateway into the kingdom. Get the Mideast Money newsletter, a weekly look at the intersection of wealth and power in the region.

The Houthis, part of Tehran’s so-called axis of resistance, have been in conflict with Riyadh since well before the Iran war began in February. They stepped up their attacks in October after Saudi-backed Yemeni forces launched an offensive to recapture Houthi-held areas.

That’s led to travel restrictions from multiple governments, meaning many attendees would have to look at alternative routes into Riyadh, including flying into Doha or Bahrain and driving more than five hours to the Saudi capital. From Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the journey would take at least 10 hours.

That had led to growing unease among executives at some of Wall Street’s biggest firms. Even before the war began, some were already questioning whether there was enough money to be made in Saudi Arabia. Many were reluctant to withdraw, wary of jeopardizing relationships with a country that, despite its strains, retained the ability to occasionally pull off blockbuster deals.

Riyadh’s decision to delay the event to an unspecified date in 2027 reflects officials’ ability to take the hard decisions — as showcased by an ability to pivot from projects like Neom to sectors like artificial intelligence. At the same time, analysts say the fallout from the war will hurt the kingdom’s attractiveness.

“I think Saudi Arabia has been damaged by this conflict with the Houthis,” Matthew Mullman, senior analyst for global macro at Signum Global Advisors, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. Firms could now question the case for building critical infrastructure in the kingdom, he added.

“The image of Saudi Arabia as the premier investment destination within the Gulf has taken a hit.”Listen: Live Q&A - How Will MBS Respond with Saudi Arabia Under Fire?