Saudi Arabia: Prince Al-Waleed

[julial]

I suppose he is the wealthiest roaylty in ME? Since he is No. 4 on Forbes 500, 2004 list.

[Gobsmacked]

Originally posted by julial@Jun 16th, 2004 - 10:17 pm
I suppose he is the wealthiest roaylty in ME? Since he is No. 4 on Forbes 500, 2004 list.

Supposedly so. But the Maktoums are pretty close behind among the royals wh are reasonably open about their financial situation. I think there is a lot of "hidden" money in the Arab world-it's hard to know who and what family has what squirreled away. The area has been unstable for so long, there is fear of assassination and being dethroned, there's infighting, everyone is looking out for #1 and secrecy is the norm. Saddam Hussein reportedly had a fortune invested in the West.

The Economist did a little investigating into al-Waleed's investments a few years back. There's been some suspicion that the numbers reported for him don't add up, some speculate that he's a front man for some of the other Saudi royal investors.

He is undoubtedly very wealthy and did make the lion's share of it, I think, himself - he started with not much, his father, Talal, as not one of the wealthier royals and Talal was in exile for a while. Al-Waleed mortgaged a home his father gave him to get his initial seed money. He is certainly one of the most progressive Saudi royals, comfortable doing business both in the West and in the Arab world. He's not afraid to use Western business practices such as layoffs, performance standards and cost cutting that are pretty much unheard of in SA. He's one of the few people in position of power who have criticized the past management of the Kingdom and a bit of an alarmist about the future if things don't change. You certainly have to call al-Waleed one of the good guys. He's not a deadbeat leecher prince. He's also pretty liberal on women's issues. It was well publicized that he hired some of the women in Saudi to work for him who were arrested after protesting not being able to drive by partaking in a "drive-in" in the city streets.

He also has a lot of business interests in Lebanon where he grew up and still has citizenship; he owns hotels, retail and media companies there and there's some speculation he might be interested in getting into politics either there or in Saudi Arabia.

His father, Prince Talal is a bit of a character himself. Talal was forced to flee SA in the 60s when he tried to lead a revolt against the King and then meddled again from Egypt, trying to get the russian communists to help him. They called him the "Red Prince" for a while. He was allowed to go back to SA if he stayed out of political scene. Prince Talal now is called the "children's Prince" because he is the representative to UNESCO and active in other children's charities and water conservation. He still pretty outspoken and in favor of women's rights and every once in a while you'll read some outburst of his in the media. He and Crown Prince Abdullah are reportedly close.

[FranciscanFry]

Hi Everybody! My name is Jen and I'm an avid middle eastern royalty fan.
I wanted to tell everyone that there is a yahoo group for Prince Alwaleed...and in the group, there are LOTS of pics of his gorgeous son, Prince Khaled and his beautiful daughter.

Here is the webpage for the Alwaleed bin Talal group that I was talking about.
Prince Khaled is in his late twenties. I read an article once where they called his manner of speaking "frank and engaging" - whatever that means. I don't know if he's married or dating anyone or anything. he's hard to find info on.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alwaleed_bin_talal/

[desertrosemrk]

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Profile

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March, 1955 to Prince Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King AbdulAziz Alsaud, and to Princess Mona El-Solh, daughter of Riad El-Solh, the first Prime Minister of modern day Lebanon and a leader of Lebanese independence.

The prince was educated in the U.S. where he got his B. Sc. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, Menlo College, California, in 1979, and his M.A. in Social Science with honours, Syracuse University, 1985.

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, member of the Saudi Royal family, is a private entrepreneur and an international investor.

The Prince began building his investment portfolio in 1979, when he returned to Saudi Arabia after earning his Bachelor’s degree in the US.

Prince Alwaleed established a number of business ventures, initially focusing on construction and real estate. Over time, the Prince’s investments rapidly grew and eventually led to the formation of Kingdom Holding Company, which invested along side other entities controlled by HRH, in banking, telecommunications, broadcasting & media, entertainment, hospitality, computers and electronics, agriculture, restaurants, upscale fashion, retailing, supermarkets, tourism, travel, and automotive manufacturing.

Honorary Degrees & Academic Awards:

• Doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa, University of New Haven, 1992.
• Doctorate in Business Management, Kyungwon University, Seoul, Korea, 1998. </FONT>
• Doctorate in Law, Syracuse University, 1999
• Presidential Medal,University of New Haven, 1999.
• Doctorate in Law, Exeter University, 2002.Doctorate in Law, the American University in Cairo, 2002

[desertrosemrk]

Prince Alaweed

[La la]

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga greets Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud, a member of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family and Chairman of Kingdom Holdings Company, at the President’s House yesterday.

Saudi Arabia to invest in Lankan tourism sector


by Anjana Gamage

Visiting Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud yesterday assured President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga that Saudi Arabia was committed to assist Sri Lanka's reconstruction programme in the long term and also make substantial investments in the tourism sector.

"We are willing to invest in Lanka's tourism on a large scale," Prince Al Waleed, Chairman of the Kingdom Holdings Company of Saudi Arabia, told President Kumaratunga.

The Prince and the Saudi Arabian delegation met the President at President's House.

The Prince informed the President that Saudi Arabia was wiling to invest heavily in Sri Lanka as it emerges anew from the tsunami disaster. He specifically mentioned his interest in further developing the Colombo Hilton. He also noted the economic contribution made by the 350,000 Sri Lankans working in the Kingdom.

The Prince stressed that Saudi Arabia was helping Sri Lanka to re-develop all tsunami hit areas. It has already granted Rs.300 million as reconstruction aid which will be utilised for building 1,000 houses in Kirinda and other areas decided by the Sri Lankan Government.

President Kumaratunga thanked Prince Al Waleed for the assistance granted to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami catastrophe. She briefed the visiting prince on the post-tsunami reconstruction programme.

The Prince also met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse. They discussed reconstruction activities in the coastal areas and further areas on which the two countries can cooperate. They also discussed investment opportunities for Saudi Arabia in Sri Lanka.

He met Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama and Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike. Speaking to the media after his meeting with Prince Al Waleed, Minister Anura Bandaranaike said: "There are no large scale Saudi Arabian investments in Sri Lanka. He expressed willingness to invest in tourism here on a big scale.

They want to build a large hotel in Colombo and also show a keen interest in investing in the Colombo Hilton."

Board of Investment Chairman Saliya Wickramasooriya who also participated in the discussions said that specific areas for Saudi Arabian investments will be identified later. It would take three years to complete the tourism resort. The Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Dr. P. Ramanujam and the Secretary to the Ministry of Investments Dr. U. Vidanapathirana also participated.

http://www.dailynews.lk/

[houri]

Prince Khalid bin Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia, the only son of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, will marry the daughter of the country's finance minister this weekend. Khalid, 27 and the elder of Alwaleed's two children, will marry the daughter of Ibrahim al-Assaf on Saturday, said a spokeswoman for Alwaleed, who declined to be identified or to identify the bride. Khalid is a member of the ruling al-Saud family and a director of Kingdom Holding, the company his father runs, which has made him the world's fifth-richest man, with $23.7 billion in assets, according to Forbes magazine. Anthony Harris, a former British ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said in a telephone interview: "It's interesting that Prince Khalid is marrying a commoner and reflects a great desire among more sophisticated Saudis to marry outside the family .

the source http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/...s/peepfri.html

but in yahoo group they said that he already married , so I am not sure , I am keep thinking if he married the media for sure will be there because he is the only son of Alwaleed and that make news .

[La la]

Oh, thanks for posting that article Houri. :) Yeah, I've also been following the discussions in one of the Alwaleed groups. I read that the bride is the daughter of the Finance Minister and that her name is Moneerah.

Best of luck to them! :)

[desertrosemrk]

1 Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
2 Prince Alaweed

[houri]

This information from yahoo group :

Hi Guys

Do we know if Khaled has got married?
Any wedding pictures?
Which day did he get married?
Who was on the guest list?
He seems very out of the media?


Ther respond

Yes exactly it was a private wedding
for family and close freinds only

but the men`s wedding was huge in a way
I will scan the photos of Khaled and his father from a magazine so
soon god`s willing...
HRH Prince Alwaleed invite all his family and all the VIP`s and the
Ministers and ex-ministers ...etc

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alwaleed_bin_talal/

[ammar sulaiman]

thanks Houri, but i want to ask a qustion ,alwaleed when he start his business,he started by a huge money ,from where he got it ??

[FranciscanFry]

He inherited $200,000 because he is a Saudi prince and then he took that money and invested it. He made many brilliant business decisions and now he is a financial power house :)

[La la]

thanks Houri, but i want to ask a qustion ,alwaleed when he start his business,he started by a huge money ,from where he got it ??

"He was chairman of his own company by the time he was 14 and a self-made billionaire by 31. And his is not inherited wealth. He says he started out in 1979 with a loan of $30,000 from his father. He also mortgaged, for about $400,000, a house gifted to him by his father, Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz, brother of King Fahd. Each month, as a grandson of Ibn Saud, the warrior founder of the kingdom, he receives $15,000 - a sum that would hardly meet most Saudi princes's gambling debts or tailors' bills."

[ammar sulaiman]

Originally Posted by La la

"He was chairman of his own company by the time he was 14 and a self-made billionaire by 31. And his is not inherited wealth. He says he started out in 1979 with a loan of $30,000 from his father. He also mortgaged, for about $400,000, a house gifted to him by his father, Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz, brother of King Fahd. Each month, as a grandson of Ibn Saud, the warrior founder of the kingdom, he receives $15,000 - a sum that would hardly meet most Saudi princes's gambling debts or tailors' bills."

thanks la la but its all lies,look above (he says....) the truth is : when his father Talal bin abulaziz left the finance ministry of saudi arabia as a minister they found no single riyal there , and the govenment forced in that time to take loan from a yemani business man in saudi (Bin mahfooz)owner of alahali bank.
and talal left saudi to where?? ofcourse to switzerland..then Lebanon where in its airport asked by saudi ambassador in Lebanon to surrender his passport..and he did..so complete saudi money in many years stolen ,and the thief is Talal ..and of course his son took his share ..i wish if they respect our minds when they talk ..and i wish from you and others not to look about what they said.

[ammar sulaiman]

walaikum alsalam Houri
ok, i will do .
regarding this Q ,i have my own thinking regarding this question..there is an important point about House of Saud and press ..even they(many of them) own press companies and above them is alwaleed (Robert Mardoukh's partner)but they fear the press because its troubled them more enough ..alwaleed now looking more to saudi arabia and making more business there ,and eyes of saudis whom some of them start begging in the streets on him .alwaleed is famous by his wealth only and this fame for many saudis is a black fame because of their past and present..
regarding the past its in origin of his grandmother ,whom she is mother of Talal and the biggest theft in modren time by talal himself father of alwaleed when he stolen the finance ministry of Saudi.

[La la]

Yes, please explain, since only you know 'the truth', why Alwaleed's brother didn't get his share of Daddy's stolen billions? And please explain how come a man with a past like that is working for UNESCO? You better elaborate on your reasons.

[ammar sulaiman]

Originally Posted by Reina

I just don't agree. He is a model that other Saudi Royals should follow. He doesn't treat women like other saudi princes do. He loves his kids. He is married to one woman at a time. He makes his money honestly and he gives back. Now I know no one is perfect so please elaborate on how he is bad.

what wrong not to marry more than one ,if the man is just and capable for more than one ,why not? dont forgett the females more than the male in every where.

[Redrose53083]

Originally Posted by ammar sulaiman

what wrong not to marry more than one ,if the man is just and capable for more than one ,why not? dont forgett the females more than the male in every where.

Well, the biggest reason why marrying more than one wife is not the best way to go is that Islam REQUIRES that you must treat your wives EQUALLY, which is very very difficult and very very few people in the world can do this. Look at the Emir of Qatar, 3 wives, one favored wife. Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Zayed, and a number of other Arab sheikhs and princes, same problem. Many many more examples. One I personally witnessed, guy had 2 wives, one 52 the other 23. Younger wife got MUCH more attention. Looking at these marriages technically, they simply should not have happened, because the husband cannot be equal. Its called being human.

Secondly, multiple wives in Islam are generally prefered in times of war, when the female to male ratio is very high. In a society where a woman depends on a man financially and socially, marriage is very important. The concept of four wives to one husband is to account for this time when there ARE that many women available. Currently, the ratio of men to women is almost 50: 50 (more like 51:49 but close enough...) worldwide, including the Muslim world. Thus, for every extra wife a man takes these days, he is depriving a fellow muslim brother of a marriage. So yes, for todays society, its wrong.