Prince al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdel Aziz Al Saud ( Arabic: الوليد بن طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ; born March 7, 1955 ), better known as Prince al-Walid - a member of the Saudi royal family , the nephew of the current king and international investor. He made his fortune on investment projects and buying shares. In 2007, his net worth was estimated at $ 21.5 billion (according to Forbes magazine ). Al-Walid ibn Talal al-Saud is 22nd on the list of the richest people in the world. Time magazine gave him the nickname "Arabian Warren Buffett ."
| al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdel Aziz Al Saud | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| الوليد بن طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | March 7, 1955 ( 64) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Saudi Arabia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Father | Talal ibn Abdul Aziz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biography
Al-Walid is the grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdel Aziz ibn Saud . By mother - the grandson of Riad al-Solkh , the first prime minister of independent Lebanon . Cousin of Moroccan princes Moulay Hisham and Moulay Ismail (their mothers are sisters). Another aunt of the prince was the wife of Omar Karam - another Prime Minister of Lebanon.
Al-Walid has a bachelor of science degree (College Menlo, 1979) and a master's degree (Maxwell School of Public Relations of the University of Syracuse , 1985). He is also awarded a Ph.D. from the International University of Exeter.
Thrice divorced. His first wife was Dalal - the daughter of his uncle, King Saud , in this marriage, Prince Khaled and Princess Rome were born. The second wife is Iman al-Sudayri . In 2006, he met his third wife, Amira (born 1983), and immediately proposed to her. In 2014, they divorced.
Despite the fact that Prince al-Walid is the nephew of the six kings of Saudi Arabia, he remained outside the core of political power in Saudi Arabia. Instead, he created a large international corporation called the Kingdom Holding Company through which he invests.
According to media reports, the Saudi king Salman decided to appoint Prince al-Walid the future ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Israel [1] [2] [3] [4] .
In November 2017, the prince was arrested by the Saudi police in accordance with the decision of the recently created Anti-Corruption Committee [5]
Business
Al-Waleed began his business career in 1979 after graduating from Menlo College. He took a loan of $ 300,000 and became an intermediary in business with foreign firms wishing to do business in Saudi Arabia.
The prince’s actions as an investor yielded outstanding returns when he bought a substantial portion of Citicorp 's shares in the 1990s (at that time it was in a financial crisis) with an initial investment of $ 550 million to save Citibank from total ruin and give a loan to an American bank and Latin American firms . He invested all his money and saved Citibank from complete ruin. 50% of the fortune was brought to al-Valid by Citibank.
He collaborated with Bill Gates , being one of the co-owners of Four Seasons Hotels , and in 2004 supported Microsoft in the expansion in Saudi Arabia [6] .
He has also made large investments in AOL , Apple Inc , Worldcom , Motorola , News Corporation Ltd and media companies.
Lifestyle
The prince was the first in the world to order a personal Airbus A380 Super Jumbo . The contract price amounted to $ 488 million US dollars [7] . The aircraft has a marbled Turkish bath , a concert hall with ten seats and a garage for a Rolls-Royce . In addition, the airplane has several separate rooms, each of which has a chapel with an electronic prayer rug , always looking towards Mecca . There is a special “prosperity room” with a giant screen in the floor, which shows the land below [7]
Arrest
On November 4, 2017, he was arrested among 11 princes and several former ministers several hours after the appointment of Crown Prince Muhammad ibn Salman as the head of a specially created anti-corruption committee [8] .
Rewards
| A country | date | Reward | Letters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 2002— | Commander of the Great Ribbon of the Order of King Abdel-Aziz | ||
| Jordan | 1997— | Commander of the Great Ribbon of the Order of the Star of Jordan | ||
| The Republic of Korea | 1999— | Cavalier of the Order of Diplomatic Merits, Grade 3 | ||
| Brunei | 2001— | Cavalier of the Order of the Royal Family of Brunei 1 class | Dk | |
| Lebanon | 2002— | Grand Officer | Order of the Cedar | |
| 1998-2002 | Commander | |||
| Tunisia | 2002— | Chevalier of the Great Ribbon of the Order of the Republic | ||
| Tunisia | 2003— | Medal November 7 | ||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2003— | Presidential Medal | ||
| Burkina Faso | 2003— | Commander of the National Order of Burkina Faso | ||
| Guinea | 2003— | Commander of the National Order of Merit | ||
| Equatorial Guinea | 2003— | Commander of the Grand Cross of the National Order of Equatorial Guinea | ||
| Netherlands | 2003— | Officer of the Order of the Orange-Nassau | ||
| Senegal | 2003— | Grand Officer of the National Order of Leo | ||
| Togo | 2003— | Grand Officer of the Order of Mono | ||
| Gabon | 2004— | Commander of the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit | ||
| Chad | 2004— | Grand Officer of the National Order of Chad | ||
| Comoros | 2004— | Commander of the Order of the Star of Anjouan | ||
| Djibouti | 2004— | Commander of the Order of the Great Star of Djibouti | ||
| Djibouti | 2004— | Presidential Medal | ||
| Djibouti | 2004— | Anniversary medal “20 years of independence of the Republic of Djibouti” | ||
| Benin | 2005— | Great Officer of the National Order of Benin | ||
| Gambia | 2005— | Grand Officer of the Order of the Republic of The Gambia | ||
| Kenya | 2005— | Commander of the Order of the Golden Heart | Cgh | |
| Liberia | 2005— | Cavalier of the Great Cross of the Order of the Star of Africa | ||
| Mali | 2005— | Commander of the National Order of Mali | ||
| Cote d'Ivoire | 2006— | Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the National Order of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire | ||
| Ghana | 2006— | Companion of the Order of Volta | ||
| Niger | 2006— | Commander of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit | ||
| Pakistan | 2006— | Hilal-e-imtiaz | Hi | |
| Syria | 2006— | Commander of the Umayyad Order 1 class | ||
| France | 2006— | Commander of the Legion of Honor | ||
| Uganda | 2006— | Grand Commander of the Order of the Pearl of Africa | ||
| Philippines | 2007— | Grand Officer of the Order of the Golden Heart | ||
| Republic of China | 2007— | Cavalier of the Great Ribbon of the Order of the Diamond Star | ||
| Bulgaria | 2009— | Cavalier of the Order of the Madara Horseman | ||
| Madagascar | 2009— | Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the 1st class of the National Order of Madagascar | ||
| CAR | 2009— | Commander of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit | ||
| Cape Verde | 2010— | Medal of the Order of Amilkar Cabral | ||
| Vietnam | 2010— | Commander of the Order of Friendship | ||
| Laos | 2010— | Medal of Honor | ||
| Burundi | 2011— | Cavalier of the Order of the Republic | ||
| Mauritania | 2011— | Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit | ||
| Morocco | 2011— | Commander of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Alauite Throne | ||
| Bahrain | 2012— | Commander of the Order of Courage | ||
| Bangladesh | 2012— | Commander of the Order of Friendship | ||
| State of Palestine | March 5, 2014— | Chevalier of the Great Ribbon of the Order of Honor | ||
| Monaco | October 29, 2015— | Grand Officer of the Order of Grimaldi | ||
Notes
- ↑ Archived copy (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 7, 2016. Archived June 17, 2016.
- ↑ Prince of Saudi Arabia al-Walid bin Talal: I am proud to be the first honorary ambassador to Israel and hope that together we will be able to repulse the Iranian program - Realnienovosti unopened (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 7, 2016. Archived June 24, 2016.
- ↑ Media: Saudi Arabia is building an embassy in Tel Aviv, Prince Walid bin Talal will be the ambassador
- ↑ Exclusive - Saudi Arabia is building an embassy in Israël
- ↑ 11 princes arrested in Saudi Arabia. Among them, one of the richest people in the world - Meduza (Russian) , Meduza . Date of treatment November 5, 2017.
- ↑ Four Seasons Hotels agrees to bid from Gates and Alwaleed . International Herald Tribune (February 13, 2007). Date of treatment February 15, 2008. Archived March 4, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Mikal Hem, 2016 , p. 28.
- ↑ David D. Kirkpatrick. Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal . The New York Times (November 4, 2017). Date of treatment November 5, 2017.
Literature
- Mikal Hem. Be a dictator. Practical Guide = Kanskje Jeg Kan Bli Diktator. - M .: Alpina Publisher , 2016 .-- 232 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-5403-1 .