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HRH Prince al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, (Arabic: الوليد بن طلال بن عبد العزيز السعود ) born in March,1955 and usually known simply as Prince Alwaleed, is a member of the Saudi Royal Family who has amassed an independent fortune through investments in shares and property.
Born in Riyadh, Prince Alwaleed studied in the USA at Menlo College and Syracuse University. He is married with two children. He is the nephew of the late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia but has stayed outside of the core of political power in Saudi Arabia, instead building a large international financial business called the Kingdom Holding Company. He is calculated to be one of the world's richest billionaires, worth $21.5 billion (according to Forbes magazine), making him the richest Muslim in the world, independently of any claim on the Saud family wealth. His investments are organized through his Kingdom Holding Company.
Investment activities
Prince Alwaleed's activities as an investor came to prominence when he bought a large tranche of shares in Citicorp in the 1990s when that firm was in difficulties. He has also made large investments in AOL, Apple Computer, Worldcom, Motorola, News Corporation Ltd and other technology and media companies.
His real estate holdings have included large stakes in the Four Seasons hotel chain and the Plaza Hotel in New York; he sold most of his shares in the latter in August 2004. He holds a 10% stake in Euro Disney SCA, the organization which manages and maintains the Disneyland Resort Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France.
In January 2005 he purchased the Savoy Hotel in London for an estimated GBP £250 million, and it will now be managed by Fairmont Hotels in which Prince Alwaleed owns an estimated 16%.
Charitable activities
Prince Alwaleed is heavily involved in charitable activities across the Islamic world, and is estimated to donate more than $50 million annually to good causes. Much of this expenditure is in the field of educational initiatives to promote western understanding of Islamic culture.
In 2001 he offered New York City a donation of $10 million towards relief efforts after the September 11, 2001 attacks. This was rejected by Mayor Rudy Giuliani, feeling that the prince's issuance of a statement that the United States, "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack", could be construed as a justification of the terrorist incidents.
In 2002 Prince Alwaleed donated $500,000 to the George Herbert Walker Bush Scholarship Fund, established by the Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts to honor former President George H. W. Bush.
In July 2005, he donated $20 million to the Louvre Museum to help fund a new Islamic art wing - a freeform, glassy structure that will bring a modern touch to a neoclassical courtyard. The new Islamic-oriented wing will be opened in 2009.
Political involvement
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is not part of the ruling executive within the House of Saud, and has generally kept out of politics, concentrating on his business interests. However, he has recently started to make overt political statements in his press releases and interviews. His views can be seen as critical of Saudi traditionalism, proposing reforms to elections, women's rights and the economy. He has also openly criticized operation of the state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. He is vocal about women's rights and hired the first female airline pilot in Saudi Arabia.
He has also taken a notable pro-American stance, backed up by his $10 million financing of American study programmes at the American University in Cairo.
External links
- Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince, biography by Riz Khan.