This paper studies the effect of CEO attributes on firms’ R&D spending in Saudi firms. Mainly, it examines the influence of CEOs’ education (level and background), CEOs’ experience (work experience, tenure and functional background), CEOs’ origin and CEOs' ownership. These attributes are among the main CEO attributes that are not considered simultaneously by previous studies. Empirically, we use a sample of 63 listed Saudi companies on Tadawul stock exchange. The study uses a panel model employing data over the period from 2016 to 2019 with 252 observations and formulates five different equations using the ordinary least square regression. Findings show that companies employing CEOs with functional backgrounds in marketing and/or engineering will invest more in R&D. Similarly, R&D spending increases when the CEO is an insider and has a part in the firm capital. These results would help scholars and shareholders to understand what makes executives more willing to initiate innovation and thus, they can select and govern well the company’s CEO.