Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
Saudi Arabian royal, businessman and investor (born 1955) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud (Arabic: الوليد بن طلال آل سعود; born 7 March 1955) is a Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist, and royal member of the House of Saud. In 2008, he was listed on Time magazine's Time 100, an annual list of the hundred most influential people in the world.[2] Al Waleed is a grandson of Abdulaziz, the first king of Saudi Arabia, and of Riad Al Solh, Lebanon's first prime minister.
Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud | |
---|---|
Years active | 1979–present |
Alma mater | Menlo College Syracuse University |
Born | (1955-03-07) 7 March 1955 (age 69)[1] Jeddah, Saudi Arabia[1] |
Spouse | Iman Al Sudairi
(m. 1996; div. 1997)Kholood Al Anazi
(m. 1999; div. 2004) |
Issue | Prince Khaled Princess Reem |
House | Al Saud |
Father | Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud |
Mother | Mona El Solh |
Occupation | Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company |
Al Waleed is the founder, chief executive officer and 95 percent owner[3] of the Kingdom Holding Company, a company with investments in companies in the financial services, tourism and hospitality, mass media, entertainment, retail, agriculture, petrochemicals, aviation, technology, and real-estate sectors.[4] In 2013, the company had a market capitalization of over $18 billion.[5] He owns Paris' Four Seasons Hotel George V and part of New York's Plaza Hotel.[6][7] Time has called him the "Arabian Warren Buffett".[8][9] In November 2017, Forbes listed Al Waleed as the 7th-richest man in the world, with a net worth of $39.8 billion.[10][11]
On 4 November 2017, Al Waleed and other prominent Saudis (including fellow billionaires Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim and Saleh Abdullah Kamel) were arrested in Saudi Arabia, in a purge that the Saudi government characterized as an anti-corruption drive.[12][13] The allegations against Al Waleed include money laundering, bribery, and extorting officials.[14] Some of the detainees have been in the Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, since then.[15] Al Waleed was released from detention on 27 January 2018, following a financial settlement of some kind, after nearly three months in detention.[16][17] In March 2018 he was dropped from the World's Billionaires list due to lack of current information.[18] He was listed in the 'Top 100 most powerful Arabs' from 2013 to 2021 by Gulf Business.[19][20][21]