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Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud calls on the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. photo by
Prime Minister’s Office (GODL-India)

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Al-Waleed bin Talal

Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud is a Saudi Arabian prince and entrepreneur, a grandson of the kingdom鈥檚 founder Ibn Saud. He is also a nephew of each of the subsequent Saudi kings up through King Salman. He is a billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist, and royal.

He is a renowned international investor. His Company, Kingdom Holding, owns significant stakes in companies around the world, including Citigroup and Snap.

Al-Waleed was born on 7 March 1955. His parents were Prince Talal and Princess Mona El-Solh, daughter of Lebanon’s first prime minister, Riad El Sohl. He was raised in Riyadh and Beirut, Lebanon.

He attended Menlo College in Menlo Park, California, and Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, where he studied business and social science. He returned to Saudi Arabia to launch a career in business after graduation.

1. He started with a capital of $15,000 and a 130-room palace as a security

Image by Andrew Magill from Boulder, USA-

Many face the challenge of raising capital when starting a business. Not when you are a prince. In 1980, Al-Waleed started with $15,000 and a 130-room palace against which he could borrow. This was handed out by his father.

He set out to make his fortune by negotiating big deals at bargain prices. In 1990鈥�91 he bought nearly a 15 percent interest in the Citicorp banking group for about $800 million. He successfully exploited this sum into nearly $2 billion.

This was the first of many. He made several acquisitions and takeovers which made a good profit. By the mid-90s he had successfully increased his capital by millions.

2. Al- Waleed was involved in corruption

On Nov. 4, 2017, Al-Waleed was targeted in an anti-corruption crackdown spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He was detained alongside dozens of other Saudi businessmen at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh.

After his release in January 2018, Al-Waleed described his detention as a “misunderstanding” between him and the government and maintained his innocence of any charges.

Most detainees were released after reaching financial settlements and Prince Al-Waleed said in March 2018 that he had struck a confidential and secret deal with the government.

3. He is a risk taker

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They say that risk-taking pays. In business, a risk taker is greatly rewarded. This may explain how Al-Waleed accumulated a lot of wealth in his lifetime.

He rose to international prominence after making a big successful bet on Citigroup in the 1990s. Many investors had stayed clear of Citigroup. Al-Waleed took over and turned things around. He was also an early investor in Apple.

He also made a joint investment of $300 million in Twitter in 2011 and he raised his stake in 2015. Last month, he agreed to roll a stake now worth $1.89 billion into Elon Musk’s takeover deal, rather than cashing out.

4. Al-Waleed has kept close to his roots

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Even with the massive wealth, recognizes his roots. The desert is one place that he goes out to unwind. . He likes to say he makes his most important personal and business decisions are made in the desert. He is often accompanied by his guests and takes time to meet with tribesmen and their families.

He is however not shy about his wealth. He aspires to live happily. He has a lavish camp out there in the desert. At his palace, fresh flowers are flown in every week from Holland. Guest bathrooms have gold fixtures. The recreation room contains a swimming pool and dozens of stuffed hunting trophies.

Kingdom Resort, built on 250 acres just outside of Riyadh, is said to be his 鈥渃ountry resort.鈥� It boasts a private zoo and an underground cavern.

5. Al-Waleed’s net worth is around $16 billion

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Kingdom Holding Company is a conglomerate that invests in hotels, real estate, and publicly traded companies worldwide.

He uses Kingdom Holding as a vehicle to hold an internationally diverse portfolio of businesses operating in many sectors including banking, real estate, and healthcare.

His most notable investments include stakes in Four Seasons Hotel Ltd., Euro Disney, and Lyft as well as the Hotel George V in 麻豆APP and the Savoy Hotel in London. He was one of Twitter’s earliest investors before its public offering, and News Corporation, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishers.

By 2022, Kingdom Holding had a market capitalization, the market value of its publicly-traded shares, of nearly $10.3 billion.

6. He is philanthropic

He oversees Al-Waleed Philanthropies which includes Al-Waleed Philanthropies “Global”, focusing on philanthropic and humanitarian projects around the world, Al-Waleed Philanthropies Lebanon, which is focused on the social and community needs of Lebanon, and Al-Waleed Philanthropies Saudi Arabia, which focuses on the needs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He also has a big heart. He founded Al-Waleed Philanthropies, a charitable organization that empowers women and youth across the Arab world. He is believed to have given US$3.5 billion to social causes in the past three decades.

7. He lives a luxurious life

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Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is probably the most familiar Saudi Arabian mogul in the West. He is often described as the 鈥淎rabian Warren Buffett鈥�. He enjoys an extravagant life.

Al-Waleed owns three palaces in Saudi Arabia. He spends most of his time in the magnificent Kingdom Palace in central Riyadh. It is estimated to be worth around US$130 million. All 317 rooms are embellished with Italian marble, oriental silks, and gold-plated fixtures.

To travel the world in style, he has his own Boeing 747-400. Most of the interior is coated in pure gold. He also owns an Airbus A 380 which is said to be even more luxurious and valued at more than US$500 million.

8. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has more than 300 cars and a fleet of jets and yachts

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He has a fleet of cars of more than 300. It includes Rolls Royce, Porsches, and Lamborghini. For security reasons, many of the cars are carbon copies of one another so when he travels around town, one car can be a decoy.

His 280-foot yacht, Kingdom 5KR, is moored in Cannes and was once owned by Donald Trump, and was originally built for Adnan Khashoggi, the Saudi arms dealer.

He also has a fleet of jets, including a private Boeing 747鈥攐utfitted with items you鈥檇 expect at a five-star hotel, as well as a gold throne鈥攁nd a Hawker Siddeley 125, which the first Saudi woman pilot has been trained to fly.

He is the only private citizen with his own 747. He also bought Alwaleed an Airbus A380鈥攖he largest commercial aircraft currently available. He is the only private citizen to have ordered one. He sold it after refurbishing the jet

9. He is an advocate for women’s rights

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Al-Waleed is a strong advocate of women鈥檚 rights. Based in a country where women can鈥檛 drive or vote, he champions women鈥檚 rights and discourages his female employees, who make up 65 percent of his workforce, from wearing the veil in his offices.

He once took to Twitter and triggered a debate on Saudi women being disallowed to drive.  He wrote: 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for women to drive鈥�.

Hanadi Zakaria al-Hindi, the first Saudi woman commercial airline pilot, was financed by the prince.

10. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal  is controversial

Al- Waleed is a public figure. His life is bound to more scrutiny than normal people’s. This has led him to be involved in several controversies.

The most noteworthy was when a story broke out that he threw $100 bills in bonfires making some dwarfs dive for the money. When the story broke out, it was taken down the next day.

Dwarfs are considered outcasts in Saudi Arabia. The wealthy think that are lucky to have dwarfs around. They are hired as jesters 鈥榯o instill a work ethic.鈥� They are pressed into service as human projectiles, where pillows catch them. When the story came out, Al-Waleed denied having participated.