Al-Waleed bin Talal

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Coordinates: 23°38′37.40″N 46°40′43.89″E / 23.643722°N 46.6788583°E / 23.643722; 46.6788583

Al-Waleed bin Talal
Born	March 7, 1955 (1955-03-07) (age 55) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Residence	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Nationality	Saudi Arabia, Lebanon
Occupation	businessman
Net worth	$16.3 billion (2009)[1]
Religion	Islam

Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
House of Saud
Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud
Offspring
Khaled bin Waleed Reem bint Waleed Najem bin Waleed Mona bint Waleed

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (also spelled Al-Walid) (Arabic: الوليد بن طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎; born 7 March 1955) is a member of the Saudi Royal Family. He is the nephew of the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah. An entrepreneur and international investor but without real political power within the House of Saud or in Saudi Arabia, he has amassed a fortune through investments in real estate and the stock market.

As of August 2009, his net worth is estimated at US$16.3 billion, down from $21 billion, according to the Arabian Business rich list published August 29, 2009.^[1] He is ranked by Forbes as the 19th richest person in the world on their list published in March 2010. Forbes put his worth at US$19.4 billion in that month. He has been nicknamed by Time magazine as the Arabian Warren Buffett.^[2]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Business interests 3 Charitable activities 3.1 World Trade Center attacks 3.2 Palestinians 3.3 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake 3.4 Harvard University 4 Academic Awards 5 Assets 6 Palaces 7 See also 8 Further reading 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Early life

Al-Waleed was born to Prince Talal, son of the founding King of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and Princess Mona Al-Solh, Daughter of Lebanon's first Prime Minister. He is Prince Talal's second son.

Al-Waleed completed a bachelor of science degree in business administration at Menlo College in 1979 and masters in social science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, in 1985. He was also awarded an honorary PhD from the University of Exeter. Prince Waleed's children are: Prince Khaled and Princess Reem who are from his first wife, Princess Dalal bint Saud bin Abdul Aziz. And Prince Najem and Princess Mona who are from Princess Deborah of Saudi Arabia, whom is one of Waleed bin Talal's current wives. Despite being the nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, he has stayed outside of the core of political power in Saudi Arabia, and instead built a large international corporation called the Kingdom Holding Company, through which he makes his investments.

[edit] Business interests

Al-Waleed began his business career in 1979 upon graduation from Menlo College. The Prince's activities as an investor came to prominence when he bought a substantial tranche of shares in Citicorp in the 1990s when that firm was in difficulties. With an initial investment of $550 million ($2.98 a share after adjusting for stock splits, acquisitions and spin-offs, according to Bloomberg calculations) to bail out Citibank caused by underperforming American real estate loans and Latin American businesses, his holdings in Citigroup now comprise for about $1 billion. His investments in Citibank earned him the title of Saudi Warren Buffett.

His stake in Citibank once accounted for approximately half of his wealth, prior to the recent financial crisis. At the end of 1990 he bought 4.9% of Citicorp’s existing common shares for $207m ($12.46 per share)—the most that he could without being legally obliged to declare his interest. In February 1991, as American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia were preparing for war with Iraq, the prince spent $590m buying new preferred shares, convertible into common shares at $16 each. This amounted to a further 10% of Citicorp and took his stake to 14.9%.^[3] In January 2008, the Prince participated—together with the Singapore government investment corporation and other investors—in a $12.5 Billion capital raise, in an unsuccessful effort to shore up Citi's capital position, but the value of these shares continued to plunge.^[4]

Later, he also made large investments in AOL, Apple Inc., MCI Inc., Motorola, News Corporation Ltd and other technology and media companies.^[5]

His real estate holdings have included large stakes in the Four Seasons hotel chain and the Plaza Hotel in New York. He sold half of his shares in the latter in August 2004. He has made investments in London's Savoy Hotel and Monaco's Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. He currently holds a 10% stake in Euro Disney SCA, the company that owns, manages and maintains Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France.^[6]

In January 2005, Al-Waleed purchased the Savoy Hotel in London for an estimated GBP £250 million, to be managed by Fairmont Hotels, in which Al-Waleed owns an estimated 16% stake. In January 2006, in partnership with the U.S. real estate firm Colony Capital, Kingdom Holding acquired Toronto, CA-based Fairmont Hotels for an estimated $3.9 billion.

As of 2008, there are plans for the $10 billion construction of the Tallest Building in the World or برج الميل (Arabic for "the Tower of One Mile"), a supertall skyscraper to be the tallest in the world, at one mile (1609 m) in height.

[edit] Charitable activities

Much of the charitable activities of Al-Waleed are in the field of educational initiatives to bridge gaps between Western and Islamic communities by funding centers of American studies and research in universities in the Middle East and centers of Islamic studies in western universities

[edit] World Trade Center attacks

In October 2001, following the World Trade Center attacks, New York mayor Rudy Giuliani turned down a $10 million donation from Al-Waleed for disaster relief after the prince suggested the United States "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack," and "re-examine its policies in the Middle East." Giuliani interpreted his statements as drawing "a moral equivalency between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism."^[7]

[edit] Palestinians

In mid April 2002, St. Petersburg Times wrote that "Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a billionaire investor, donated $27-million to the government-organized fundraiser. Alwaleed said half his telethon pledge would help rebuild Palestinian infrastructure destroyed by Israeli forces, while the rest would be donated in the form of goods, including 100 vehicles and clothing."^[8] Controversy arose because the King of Saudi Arabia, King Fahd, has stated that the government organized charity event, which raised a total of $92 million, was to "help relatives of Palestinian 'martyrs'."^[8] St. Petersburg Times writes that this "term that has been used by the Palestinians to include suicide bombers."^[8] But, St. Petersburg Times writes that "the Saudi government insisted the term referred not to suicide bombers but to 'Palestinians who are victimized by Israeli terror and violence.'"^[8] The Saudi charity event followed the early April 2002 Battle of Jenin according to CNN.^[9]

[edit] 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake

In 2005, the Prince contributed $17 million to victims of the 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake which resulted in a tsunami.^[10]

[edit] Harvard University

In April 2009, Prince Waleed bin Talal donated $20 million to Harvard University, one of its 25 largest donations. http://www.islamicstudies.harvard.edu/overview/about_the_donor.php

[edit] Academic Awards

B. Sc. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, Menlo College, California, 1979

M.A. in Social Science with honors, Syracuse University, 1985

[edit] Assets

Al-Waleed now owns the yacht Kingdom 5KR, which has a helicopter on board. She is an 85.9-meter (282-foot) yacht, originally built as the "Nabila" for Saudi billionaire, Adnan Khashoggi. She subsequently posed as the Flying Saucer, the yacht of James Bond villain Largo in the film Never Say Never Again. The yacht was later sold to Donald Trump, who renamed her Trump Princess. Al-Waleed bought the yacht after Trump's second bankruptcy.^[11]

He has ordered a new yacht currently known as the New Kingdom 5KR which will be about 173 meters (557 feet) long and will cost $500+ million. The yacht is rendered by Lindsay Designs and is expected to be delivered in late 2010.^[12]

Al-Waleed owns several aircraft, all converted for private use: a Boeing 747, an Airbus 321 and an Hawker Siddeley 125. Also on order is an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, which is scheduled for delivery in 2010.^[13][14] This has been noted in the 2009 Guinness World Records as the largest private jet in the world. The Economist has expressed doubts about the source of income of Prince Al Waleed and whether he is a front man for other Saudi investors. According to it, he has not earned enough income from his investments to pay for all that he has spent in the 1990s. The mystery goes back to that first stake in Citicorp. The prince has declared that this money came entirely from his personal funds. He says he started out in 1979 with a loan of just $30,000 from his father. He also mortgaged a house that his father had given him, raising approximately $400,000. And each month, as a grandson of Ibn Saud, he receives $15,000. "You could barely clothe a Saudi prince for such sums, let alone furnish him with a multi-billion-dollar empire. Nevertheless, by 1991 Prince Alwaleed had felt able to risk an investment of $797m in Citicorp", writes the magazine.[3]

Among his many assets are: a 95% stake in Kingdom Holding Company; 100% ownership of Rotana Video & Audio Visual Company; 90% ownership of Lebanese Broadcasting Center ( LBCSAT ); about 6% of Citigroup; 17% of Al Nahar and 25% of Al Diyar, two daily newspapers published in Lebanon.

Prince Al-Waleed tops first Saudi Rich List 2009 with a fortune of $16.3bn. HRH holds a 95 percent stake, although it has been a tough 2009 for the Prince, as his investments across the globe have been hit hard by the global economic crisis.^[15]

[edit] Palaces

Name	City	Area (sq m)	Coordinates	Description
Kingdom Resort	Hay al Huda	500,000	24°39′09″N 46°36′11″E / 24.652463°N 46.603076°E / 24.652463; 46.603076	It contains 3 lakes integrated with splendid gardens. This is where he entertains his guests.[16]
Promotion Palace	Hay al Huda	250,000	24°38′37″N 46°40′45″E / 24.643587°N 46.679208°E / 24.643587; 46.679208	This palace is frequently shown in videos for the promotion of public relations hich is why locals has dubbed it as promotion palace.[17] It has 3 swimming pools and large splendid palace. The mosque on the left and the palace next to it is also his. According to Time Megazine "Al-Waleed and his two wives live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a $300 million sand-colored palace whose 317 rooms are adorned with 1,500 tons of Italian marble, silk oriental carpets, gold-plated faucets and 250 TV sets. It has four kitchens, for Arabic, Continental and Asian cuisines, and a fifth just for dishing up desserts, run by chefs who can feed 2,000 people on an hour's notice. There is also a lagoon-shaped pool and a 45-seat basement cinema".[18]
Kingdom Oasis	Janadriyah	4,000,000	25°02′49″N 46°58′19″E / 25.047°N 46.972035°E / 25.047; 46.972035	Still under construction this 4 million sq m luxury resort will include a 70,000 sq m lake and a private zoo.[19][16]

[edit] See also

• House of Saud

[edit] Further reading

• Riz Khan - AlWaleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince (HarperCollins, 2005) ISBN 0-06-085030-2
• Saudi Prince backs Murdoch (Forbes Magazine September 2005)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• UnOfficial WebSite For Prince ALWaleed Bin Talal AL Saud
• Publisher of his biography
• 2005 Interview with Prince AlWaleed
• Forbes World's Richest People 2005
• 'A day in the desert with Prince Alwaleed', ArabianBusiness.com
• The mystery of the world’s second-richest businessman from The Economist
• The Frogs Of The Prince, Forbes article from 2000
• A mini-portal on Prince Al-Waleed maintained at Libanmall
• Year-wise listing of his international investments since 1991 on a mini http://www.theroyalist.net/content/view/1697/1/
• A Dutch State television broadcast about Saudi woman with extensive footage of the Prince (Language=Dutch)
• Portfolio
• Kingdom Holding
• Interview on Charlie Rose show (2006)
• Interview on Charlie Rose (January 20, 2010) (transcript)
• La vie Incroyable, French documentary about HRH Prince Alwaleed
• Revealed: Camilla's Mystery £1m Benefactor 31 January 2007
• AlWaleed Investment (Archived 2009-10-24)
• Power List 2008 Prince again on top in ArabianBusiness Power 100 2008. World's Most Powerful Arab