Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud

In this Arabic name, the surname is Al Saud.
Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
Al Waleed in 2015
Years active1979–present
Alma materMenlo College
Syracuse University
Born (1955-03-07) 7 March 1955 (age 69)[1]
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia[1]
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1976; div. 1994)​
Iman Al Sudairi
​
​
(m. 1996; div. 1997)​
Kholood Al Anazi
​
​
(m. 1999; div. 2004)​
​
​
(m. 2008; div. 2013)​
IssuePrince Khaled
Princess Reem
HouseAl Saud
FatherTalal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
MotherMona El Solh
OccupationChairman and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company

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 a House of Saud royal. 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 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 were held in the Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh.[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]

  1. ^ a b Khan, Riz (2005). Alwaleed, Businessman Billionaire Prince. New York: HarperCollins. p. 19. ISBN 9780060850302.
  2. ^ Khan, Riz (12 May 2008). "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal". Time. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MW01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Alwaleed About". Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Kingdom Holding on the Forbes Global 2000 List". Forbes. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  6. ^ "The 2009 TIME 100 Finalists". Time.com. 19 March 2009. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via content.time.com.
  7. ^ William D. Cohan. "The Creation Myth of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia's Billionaire Investor". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud". Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. ^ Jehl, Douglas (28 March 1999). "Buffett of Arabia? Well, Maybe". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  10. ^ "The World's Billionaires". Forbes. Retrieved 2 March 2016.[dead link]
  11. ^ "Saudi Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal's Net Worth Takes A Hit After News of His Arrest". Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  12. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D. (4 November 2017). "Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  13. ^ Agencies, Daily Sabah With (5 November 2017). "Alwaleed bin Talal, two other billionaires tycoons among Saudi arrests". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Future Saudi king tightens grip on power with arrests including Prince Alwaleed". Reuters. 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 6 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  15. ^ Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, billionaire investor, is released from custody in Saudi Arabia, relative says Archived 27 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Waleed-freed-after-settlement-doc-y10ws2 "Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed freed after 'settlement'". Agence France-Presse. 27 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018. The prince was released following an undisclosed financial agreement with the government, similar to deals that authorities struck with most other detainees in exchange for their freedom. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  17. ^ Ben Hubbard, Billionaire Saudi Prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, Is Freed From Detention Archived 27 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times (27 January 2017).
  18. ^ Dolan, Kerry (6 March 2018). "Why No Saudi Arabians Made The Forbes Billionaires List This Year". Forbes. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Top 100 Powerful Arabs 2013". Gulf Business. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Top 100 Powerful Arabs 2017". Gulf Business. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Top 100 most powerful Arabs 2021". Gulf Business. Retrieved 16 August 2021.