JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon won't attend 'Davos in the Desert'

A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson confirmed Dimon would no longer attend the conference as planned. The spokesperson declined to comment further.

The conference, dubbed "Davos in the desert," is a high-profile business summit in Saudi Arabia. International executives and media sponsors -- including CNN -- have withdrawn from appearing at the conference due to Khashoggi's disappearance.

Turkey claims to have evidence that Khashoggi, a US resident and columnist for the Washington Post, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul early this month — an accusation the kingdom strenuously denies.

But the unexplained disappearance of Khashoggi, a former Saudi government adviser turned critic, has already prompted some big-name business partners to cut ties with projects that are central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's hopes of building a modern economy with technology at its core.

Dimon's decision not to appear mirrors those of other CEOs, including Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, Viacom's (VIAB) Bob Bakish and Arianna Huffington -- who have also withdrawn from the conference.

Saudi Arabia's stock market plunges on fear of sanctions over Khashoggi

Stocks in Saudi Arabia were rattled Sunday in the aftermath of Khosrowshahi's disappearance. The main stock market index in Riyadh fell as much as 7% on Sunday and billions of dollars were wiped off the value of leading Saudi companies. The index recovered some ground later to close 3.5% down.

Zahraa Alkhalisi and Mark Thompson contributed to this report.

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