How a prince from Saudi Arabia fights animal husbandry. War of thrones: how a Saudi prince with $ 18 billion was in custody Walid ibn Talal

Prince Khalid ibn al-Walid al-Saud is a typical hipster. He wears Converse sneakers and hoodies, uses Uber and does not eat animal products. He has a goal in life - to rid the world of animal farms. And he also has huge cash to achieve this goal.

ALEXEY ALEKSEEV

student child

The name of the Saudi prince Khalid ibn al-Walid al-Saud in Russia, few have heard. There is no article about him in the Russian-language Wikipedia, and a Russian-language Google search turns up several articles from vegetarian sites and thousands of links to articles about the prince's father, a multi-billionaire investor.

Prince Khalid bin al-Walid al-Saud was born in 1978 in California. Not the most common birthplace for a member of the Saudi royal family, right? How did he get there?

This story can be started from the middle of the last century. Since John Russell, a professor at the obscure American Menlo College, decided to take a vacation in Saudi Arabia. He told the Saudis he knew that he worked at a small private business school that provided a very good education for a lot of money. The professor could hardly guess what would happen next.

Soon the first students from Saudi Arabia appeared in the college. After the oil boom of the 1970s began, their number began to grow rapidly. To date, more than 100 members of the Saudi royal family have graduated from Menlo College. Other families in the Saudi elite also began to send their sons to study in Menlo, and one family decided to give an American education even to their daughter! According to statistics, the percentage of students from Saudi Arabia among college students exceeds their share in any other institution in the United States.

In 1975, Prince Al-Waleed ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz al-Saud, grandson of the founder and first king of Saudi Arabia, entered the college. Years later, this prince, who holds a BBA from Menlo College, would be known as the Saudi Warren Buffett.

The prince will swear at Forbes magazine because it underestimates the size of his fortune. The magazine's latest estimate puts it at $18.7 billion, making Prince Al-Waleed the 45th richest person on the planet. Bloomberg estimated his net worth at $17.8 billion in November.

But then, 43 years ago, it was just a moderately well-fed young man who came to California to learn how to make money. The following year, the student al-Walid married his cousin Dalal. Their firstborn was Prince Khalid.

From college to university

Having received a bachelor's degree, Prince al-Walid returned to his homeland with his wife and one-year-old son. He graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in sociology by correspondence. In his free time, he worked part-time. He mortgaged the house given to him by his father. He sold a necklace given by his father to his wife. Money wisely invested. He was engaged in real estate, construction, bought banks. Slowly went into international investors, became a billionaire.

His The only son and the heir Prince Khalid lived with his father in the palace. When Prince Khalid was four years old, he had a younger sister, Reem. A little later, the parents divorced. Then my father remarried and divorced again.

In 1997, the family, consisting of a single father with two teenage children, celebrated their housewarming by moving to a new palace in the center of Riyadh. There were 317 rooms in the palace, almost every one had a TV set. Italian marble, oriental carpets, golden faucets in the bathrooms, five kitchens (for Lebanese, Arabic, European continental and Asian cuisines and a separate one for sweets). In the yard - a swimming pool, in the basement - a cinema. The single father also had a yacht bought from the American developer Donald Trump, several personal planes and hundreds of three cars, with one Rolls Royce considered to be his daughter's.

Even buying a personal yacht, Prince Al-Walid has shown himself to be a talented investor. He bought it at a discounted price from real estate developer D. Trump during a downturn in the real estate market. In the photo - Prince al-Walid with his son Khalid and daughter Reem

Photo: Balkis Press/ABACAPRESS/Kommersant

Of course, Princess Rome did not drive him herself. Not because she was 15 years old, but because the laws of the kingdom forbade women from driving.

In the year of the housewarming, Prince Khalid turned 19. And two things happened in his life. important events which largely determined the future of the prince. Following in his father's footsteps, he entered an American business school. True, not to Menlo College, popular with the Saudi elite, but to the University of New Haven. Then he worked in a bank, moved to his father's investment holding Kingdom Holding Company.

But even more important was the father's example in another area of ​​life. Despite five kitchens and a crowd of cooks capable of preparing a meal for 2,000 people in an hour, Prince al-Walid decided that he needed to lose weight and generally lead healthy lifestyle life.

If as a student he weighed 90 kg, then along with billions of dollars came additional kilograms. Al-Waleed started counting calories. Islam did not allow him to drink alcohol, his own beliefs did not allow him to smoke. The great investor became a vegetarian.

Animal farms - to the dustbin of history

“Prince Khalid is considered to be a Western, progressive person on many issues, including the role of women in Saudi society. He, like his father, has a business mindset, but he is also simple and sweet.” This characterization of Prince Khalid is contained in the files of the private American intelligence and analytical company Stratfor, published by WikiLeaks. The journalists who interviewed him write the same about the prince.

In Saudi Arabia, he wears traditional clothes, but in America he wears jeans, a hoodie, a baseball cap and black Converse sneakers (the upper, of course, is made of artificial leather). True, during foreign trips he lives in Four Seasons hotels, which can hardly be called budget. But he does this not at all out of a desire to spend extra money, but, on the contrary, out of economy: his father is a co-owner of this network.

The prince most clearly demonstrated his advanced Western views in 2005, when he married a girl not from a royal, but from a simple family - the daughter of the country's finance minister.

Khalid is not just the heir to his father's business empire. In 2013, he founded his own company, KBW Investments. He has business interests on all continents. But in addition to investments in traditional business areas (construction, mining, automotive, hospitality, media), Prince Khalid also invests in high technologies - mobile payments, smartphone applications, energy saving. He helped launch the popular consumer electronics and technology site TechnoBuffalo.

The prince is very concerned about environmental issues. He has abandoned investments in oil and gas, the industry most associated with Saudi Arabia. He has only one car - a Tesla electric car. Outside his native kingdom, he prefers Uber. Khalid believes that the world is facing an ecological catastrophe due to climate change, caused, in particular, by excessive consumption of meat.

In 2008, Khalid watched two American documentaries: Food, Inc. and Food. The price of the issue ”(Food Matters). The first talks about how inhumane the meat industry is and what harm it does to the environment. The second is about what kind of food benefits the body, and what causes harm. According to the prince, films literally opened his eyes. The prince had another reason to think about food. Khalid at that time weighed 105 kg. The level of cholesterol in his blood was greatly elevated. Thanks to veganism, he lost 82 kg in seven months and brought his cholesterol back to normal. Before and after photos are now posted on his Facebook.

Last summer, Prince Khalid stated in an interview: “My main goal is to send livestock farms to the dustbin of history. It must happen in my lifetime."

The prince calculates that he can achieve the goal within 10 years through strategic investments in new agricultural methods that will ensure that the world's population has enough plant-based proteins.

Shortly before this interview, the prince started a page on Facebook. It opens with the motto: "Stand up for your beliefs, even if you do it alone." However, he is not alone. Prince Khalid managed to convince his father to become not just a vegetarian, but a vegan.

As Prince Khalid writes on his Facebook, if the world sticks to the traditional diet, disaster is inevitable: “We must boycott fast food restaurants and take care of our health and the health of our children before this disaster happens.”

Last February, the first vegan gourmet restaurant with a very simple name, Cafe Plant, opened in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is also the first outside North America restaurant by chef Matthew Kenny, guru of raw vegan cuisine.

Prince Khalid originally thought of paying a franchise to an American chef, but then he hit upon a better idea - to invest in the Kenny restaurant chain. The Cafe Plant restaurant has become part of this chain. It is well located opposite the most prestigious English-taught school in the country.

Thanks to Prince Khalid, the first vegan restaurant in Bahrain, part of the network of establishments of the legendary chef Matthew Kenny (pictured in the center)

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for NYCWFF

During the year, many enthusiastic reviews about the restaurant appeared on travel websites. Everyone, even people who are far from vegan, unanimously admire the taste of the dishes, but not everyone is delighted with the prices.

Prince Khalid intends to bring the number of such restaurants in the region to 10 by 2020. He is aware that this will not change the situation much, but it will be a step in the right direction.

The prince financed the filming of the documentary "Eating Our Way To Extinction" ("If we eat like this, we will die out"). The film is scheduled to be released this year. Another documentary funded by the prince focuses on UFC mixed martial arts champion James Wilkes and other vegan athletes. Prince Khalid believes that documentaries can influence the viewer to change their minds, as it once happened to him.

Last May, he attended the New York-based summit of the Reducetarian Foundation, a foundation that advocates for a global reduction in meat consumption to protect human health, protect the environment and humanize animal husbandry.

Last September, Prince Khalid's company was among the investors who invested $17 million in San Francisco-based startup Memphis Meats. This company is working on the technology to create "clean meat" grown from animal cells in the laboratory. Among the investors who supported the startup are Bill Gates, Richard Branson and the Draper Fisher Jurvetson venture fund, which previously invested in Baidu, SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter. Interestingly, the foundation is based in the neighborhood of the city of Atherton in Silicon Valley, where Prince Khalid was born 40 years ago.

In the same month, the prince became a member of the board of directors of the Hampton Creek grocery company, which manufactures and sells vegetarian food products. The company is also developing "clean meat" and plans to bring it to market later this year.

One day, Prince Khalid went to the Life "n One vegan cafe in Dubai. The cafe has a slate board on which visitors can add their continuation of the sentence "Before I die, I want ..."

The prince wrote: "Do away with animal farms."

Al-Waleed bin Talal, Photo: Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters

Saudi prince. The richest man in the East of the XX century. In 2012, he took 8th (according to other sources, 5th) place in the list of the richest businessmen on the planet. According to Bill Gates, he is the most successful entrepreneur in the world.

The loud names of the stars of American and European business somewhat obscure the names of natives of other continents, although many of them are far from the last place in the business world of the planet. Our reader, as well as the foreign one, is little familiar, for example, with “business sharks” from the Middle East. However, they are of great interest. Among them, one of the first places belongs to the Saudi prince Al Walid - one of the world's largest investors and the nephew of the current King of Saudi Arabia Fahd.

Despite being dubbed the "prince of glasnost" by the newspapers, little is known about him. Along with other Middle Eastern multibillionaires, he does not seek to flaunt his privacy and not prone to self-promotion. Biography of Al Waleed, personality traits and business skill are known only in the most general terms.

The full name of the prince is Al Waleed ibn Talal ibn Ab-del Aziz Al Saud. His grandfather was the founder of the country, Abdulaziz ibn Saud, and his father was Prince Talal ibn Abdulaziz, the Minister of Finance. In the 60s. he led a group of so-called "liberal princes" who opposed the policies of the then-reigning King Faisal, and fell into disgrace.

Al Waleed's mother, Princess Mona is the daughter of Lebanese Prime Minister Riad Solha. When his parents divorced, the boy, who was having a hard time with this break, stayed with his mother and was brought up in Lebanon, the most democratic and Europeanized of the Middle Eastern countries. This undoubtedly had an impact on the formation of his personality. However, the day before civil war in Lebanon 1975-1990 Al Waleed got carried away national idea and almost became a supporter of Yasser Arafat. But then my father intervened. He urgently summoned his son to Riyadh and placed him in the military academy named after King Abdulaziz.

The young man did not like this choice. However, the strict laws of orthodox Islam demanded from him complete submission to the will of his father. Many years later, he realized that Talal was right. The academy saved the prince from involvement in terrorism and made him a citizen of the world in the highest sense of this meaning. In addition, studying there helped him acquire the skills of self-discipline that are essential for every businessman.

After graduating from the academy, Al Walid, as a representative of a disgraced family, could not count on a high post in the state apparatus or in the political field. Pride did not allow agreeing to secondary roles, so the young man chose to leave his native place and went overseas. He spent several years at California's Merlo College and Syracuse University, where he received a bachelor's degree in business administration and then a master's degree in political science and economics. However scientific career did not become the prince's main life stimulus.

In 1979, Al Walid returned to his homeland, shaken by the "land fever". With only $15,000 donated by his father, he organized the Kingdom company and engaged in land speculation, which brought in $2 million in net income.

After the death of his father, the young man inherited a house that was mortgaged for $1.5 million. In 1986, after pooling funds, Al Waleed, following American patterns, unexpectedly bought the Saudi Commercial Bank. Further manipulation of securities and shares caused a sensation in Saudi Arabia. The prince was predicted bankruptcy. However, two years later, the second-rate bank made a profit, and soon swallowed up the Saudi Cairo Bank, which had previously surpassed it many times in terms of turnover.

Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is perhaps the most famous among the more than two thousand Saudi princes. The prince stated that he started the business with 30 thousand dollars, which his father gave him. Al-Walid, in his own words, also had only a house and a loan of 300 thousand dollars.

The investor, however, does not mention whether the royal family helped him directly. Apparently, something fell to the heir, because in 1991 he bought a stake in Citicorp (the current Citigroup) for $ 800 million. This package became the main asset of al-Walid. According to Bloomberg, the prince bought shares at $2.98 apiece. By 2007, the securities had risen in price to $42, and the value of al-Walid's stake exceeded ten billion dollars.

In 2007, the prince decided to organize an IPO (initial public offering) of his Kingdom Holding company. Only five percent of the shares were sold to investors. At the same time, there were no motives for bringing the company to the stock exchange: al-Walid did not need either additional funds or an increase in the liquidity of capital. Nor did he need to please partners who could sell their shares as part of an IPO.

The prince has been nicknamed the "Arabian Warren Buffett", a nod to his investment acumen. However, these two investors have little in common: al-Waleed has, in fact, only one high-profile investment in securities - an investment in Citicorp, while Buffett is known for several successful deals. They differ greatly in their attitude to luxury. For example, Buffett still lives in a house for 31.5 thousand dollars, while the prince castle for 100 million. Al Waleed is also known for his passion for luxury cars, yachts and aircraft.

The only thing the two investors have in common is, perhaps, the desire for transparency. True, Buffett declares all income from personal convictions (he is considered one of the most honest businessmen) and because the law requires it, but al-Walid has slightly different motives.

Transparency is nothing, image is everything

Image - perhaps the most important thing for al-Walid after money. Forbes wrote about this in a separate article, which became a kind of response to the claims of an Arab businessman.

So Al Walid became the pioneer of modern banking in Arabia. The next, and no less successful stage was the purchase of Arabian real estate. Currently, the cost of buildings owned by Al Walid, including a three-hundred-meter skyscraper in the center of the Arabian capital, which houses the King Faisal Charitable Foundation, is more than $53 million.

And yet, the basis of the initial capital of the prince was not speculation in land and not the manipulation of securities. By his own admission, the biggest income came from the so-called “commissions” received from transactions, which are very common in the Middle East. Here, no company, whether local or foreign, can win contracts without the help of princes or other high-ranking persons, and this is not considered reprehensible. The amount of such bribes-commissions is usually 30% of the contract value. This source of income, despite the huge profits from enterprises, the prince continues to use now. For example, in 2000, commissions amounted to $40 million out of a total income of $500 million. And all this money, according to Al Waleed, he worked honestly and in excess.

But let's return to the beginning of Al Waleed's entrepreneurial activity. Successes in the Middle East seemed to him not enough. At the age of thirty-four, with Desert Storm raging across the region, the prince made his debut in the global investment market. For $590 million, he bought a 9.9% stake in Citicorp, America's largest bank, which was in serious trouble. It became a sensation. Experienced analysts shrugged their shoulders, viewed the prince's actions as a gamble and considered them the whim of a too rich man. However, after 7 years, the value of the block of shares he bought increased 12 times, and Forbes magazine, echoed by Bill Gates, ranked Al Walid among the most successful businessmen in the world. Approximately the same thing was repeated over the following years: Al Waleed was predicted a financial collapse, nevertheless, all his undertakings invariably brought huge dividends.

In the summer of 1994, Al Waleed's name was back on the front pages of business news. He invested $350 million in shares of the Euro-Disney amusement park near Paris, which is in danger of bankruptcy. The prince suggested that the fall in the shares of this company is due to a temporary economic downturn in Europe. As a result, he became the owner of 24.8% of the shares, which in a year were worth $600 million on the market.

The scope of the prince's activities is not limited to playing on the stock exchange valuable papers. Together with Michael Jackson, he organized a joint corporation "Kingdom of Entertainment". In the second half of the 90s. actively involved in the hotel business, which had long been of interest to him, acting as a major shareholder in the project of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. Since then, Al Waleed has consistently made solid contributions to this area. As a result, the World Holding of Luxury Hotels was created, the capital of which is estimated at $1 billion. Today, the prince owns 50% of the shares of the Fairmont group, 30% of the Swiss hotel chain Movenpick, 25% of the Four Sizes hotel chain. The Prince is the owner of more than twenty luxury hotels in different countries of Europe and America. Among them are the famous hotels "George V" in Paris, "Inn on the Park" in London and "Plaza" in New York.

In the spring of 2000, when Wall Street experienced a record drop in the main stock indicators, and high-tech investors from Saudi Arabia were threatened with huge financial losses, the prince was not afraid. The experienced stock trader was sure that the situation would improve and the shares would crawl up again. A month later, he had already invested a billion dollars in 15 worldwide famous companies, operating in the field of new technologies and communications, and at the same time acquired shares in the most popular Internet providers, which were on the verge of bankruptcy. It is known that Al Waleed, along with Bill Gates and Craig McCaw, took part in the Teledesic megaproject, which provides access to the Internet from anywhere in the world.

Currently, his investments have reached $17 billion. Rumor has it that in the future, the prince intends to rush to Africa, seeing profitable investment opportunities there.

To the question of how much Al Walid "costs" now, no one can answer exactly. Usually they give figures from 20 to 25 billion dollars. His vast empire includes Saudi and foreign banks, television channels and publishing houses, enterprises engaged in construction, hotel, tourism, agriculture, retail, production of automobiles and industrial equipment, production of electronic equipment, computers and computer programs.

This largest of modern businessmen, despite a certain Europeanization, is very religious. At his own expense, he built a luxurious mosque in Riyadh. His wives never took pictures, as this is not allowed by religion. Observing the laws of Islam, Al Walid does not drink, does not smoke, does not buy shares of companies that produce tobacco and alcohol products, does not play roulette.

But in a number of cases, when business demands it, Al Walid prefers to take a liberal approach to the problems of Islam. Without playing himself, the prince makes huge profits from gambling. True, he spends this money emphatically on charity. Contrary to the opinion of Muslim jurists, Al Walid does not consider it sinful to provide money at interest (any of his banks does this).

Not alien to Al Waleed and some of the features inherent in his Western fellow billionaires. AT recent times he clearly seeks to impress the world. His intention to build a skyscraper 300 meters high with the top in the form of an eye of a needle is widely known. The latter, apparently, was conceived only in order to fly through it on a jet plane. And Al Walid wants to do it himself.

The prince categorically refuses to interfere in politics. Indeed, there are many Jews among his partners, which is not typical for a Muslim. At the same time, it is known that the prince donated $27 million to the needs of the Palestinians fighting against the occupation of the lands occupied by Israel. He did not stand aside from the assessment of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, making it clear that he considers America, which supports Israel, to be guilty of the causes of this tragedy. He said, "The US government needs to rethink its Middle East policy and take a more balanced stance towards the Palestinians." At the same time, Al Waleed decided to allocate $10 million in donations to people affected by the attack. Outraged New York Mayor Rudolph Juliani dismissed the money, calling the prince's statement "absolutely irresponsible", "dangerous" and "unfriendly to American politics." In response, the prince reaffirmed his position, stating that "the US must understand the causes and roots of terrorism and its connection to the Palestinian problem." Then he handed the New York city hall a check for $10 million and said he would not give another cent if he was refused again. According to a number of Western commentators, this whole story looks like blackmail on the part of a Saudi multimillionaire: after all, he is one of the largest investors in the US economy.

Al Walid created his empire in a very short time - in just 20 years. In business circles, this is explained by his propensity for risk, but justified risk. He buys shares of the world's leading corporations at a time when they are experiencing difficulties. At the same time, he acts very decisively, but always knows where and when to strike.

It is clear to all that Al Waleed has enormous personal wealth. As is usual in the business world, when asked about the origins of a huge fortune, he answers in full accordance with the stereotypical American legend: "I achieved everything myself, hard work and I'm proud of it." However, rumors circulate in the business world that the entire royal family is behind the prince, who do not want to advertise their involvement in business ventures. This, however, remains unproven. Al Walid himself considers belonging to the Saudi dynasty a blessing of Allah, since it is she who is the guardian of the two main shrines of Islam - Mecca, where the sacred stone of the Kaaba is kept, and Medina, where the grave of the prophet Mohammed is located.

More than anything, the prince values ​​reliable information. In its skillful use is one of the main and real secrets of his success. For information, Al Waleed is not stingy. His team consists of about 400 people, for the maintenance of which the prince spends $ 1 million a month. These professionals the highest class accompany him always and everywhere, even during trips, creating a whole caravan of special vehicles - a very impressive sight.

The prince himself explains the reasons for his success very simply. In an interview with the correspondent of the French magazine Parimatch, Elisabeth Chavelet, he said: “I work a lot when necessary - for 15-20 hours in a row ... And one more thing: if you are successful in business, then new things will come to you. I am religious and this is a valuable help for me. If thanks to Allah you prosper, then you should always remain humble, help the poor, otherwise Allah will punish you.”

Al Walid's high performance is confirmed by the daily routine. Every day he gets up at 10 o'clock in the morning, then does a fifteen-minute exercise, has breakfast. From 11:00 to 16:00 he works in the office, from 16:00 to 17:00 - lunch and a little rest. From 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. he works in the office again. The next three hours are devoted to physical exercises, jogging and swimming in the pool, lunch and prayer. The prince goes to bed at 5 o'clock in the morning. He despises sleep, considering these hours lost for business.

This man, more like a robot, is actually never distracted by anything not related to work or maintenance. No wonder he even considers business and only business to be his hobby.

The prince eats little and does not abuse delicacies. His self-characteristic is known: “I am a calorie counter”, meaning the rejection of everything that exceeds a certain norm that he set for himself.

Personal life-Al Walida, according to the press, did not work out. He was married twice and unsuccessfully both times. Marriages ended in divorce. Apparently, alluding to the conviction of Europeans that every wealthy Muslim should have a huge harem, the prince answers journalists' questions that he has 100 wives and that their portraits adorn the walls of his office. However, these "portraits" show the emblems of companies owned by the prince.

Al Walid lives alone, but adores his children - nineteen-year-old Khaled and fifteen-year-old Reem. For them, he built a palace of 317 rooms, collected a collection of three hundred cars. Rome bought a luxurious blue Rolls-Royce especially for him.

The prince-businessman spends his leisure time on the French Riviera or in his own villa near the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, in the company of Bedouins. He and his friends drink the strongest Arabic coffee and are rumored to be talking about eternity. But this does not prevent the prince from plunging back into the fussy and hard world of business, very far from philosophy and thoughts about the divine destiny of man, after a short time.

In 2012, Prince bought the plane for $485 million. This is an exclusive version of the Airbus-380 aircraft, nicknamed the "Flying Palace" for its luxury.

One of the richest people in the world saudi prince and businessman Al-Waleed bin Talal will receive the liner in the very near future.

The three-story liner contains conference and banquet halls, five-room royal apartments, and a prayer room equipped with virtual prayer rugs that automatically orient themselves in the direction of Mecca. A special elevator will take the owner to the lower floor, where the Rolls-Royce garage is located.

One of the richest people in the world, Saudi prince and businessman Al-Waleed bin Talal, will soon receive an exclusive version of the Airbus-380 aircraft he ordered for $485 million. The winged car was nicknamed the "Flying Palace" for its luxury.

The three-story airliner houses conference and banquet halls, five-room royal suites, and a prayer room. It is equipped with virtual prayer mats that automatically orient themselves in the direction of Mecca.

The interior of one of al-Waleed's planes Photo: Waseem Obaidi / Getty Images

A special elevator will take the owner of the aircraft to the lower floor. There is a garage for a Rolls-Royce car, RIA Novosti reports.

So far, the "Flying Palace" exists in a single copy.

However, Airbus hopes that Prince bin Talal's acquisition of the Palace will be a good advertisement for this luxury aircraft, and orders for it will not be long in coming.

The interior of one of al-Waleed's planes, Photo: Waseem Obaidi / Getty Images

He owns a collection of 200 cars that are painted in all the colors of the rainbow and are operated on a certain day of the week. By the way, the car garage is shaped like an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

He also owns the world's largest truck, which has four bedrooms in the cab. Another giant car is a motor home, it has the shape of a globe, and its dimensions are exactly a millionth of the size of the planet Earth.

Inside the largest private jet in the world, there was room for a concert hall, a Turkish bath, and even a beloved Rolls Royce. Imagine the perfect private jet—no lines, a big reclining chair, maybe a glass of chilled champagne. Trite?

Add four-poster beds, a four-person Turkish bath, and Rolls-Royce parking. And all this without mentioning the meeting room with projection screens and the concert hall on board.
This $500 million A380 was expected to be the world's largest private jet by the time it was completed.

The owner of the public is unknown, but it is said that he loves to fly. One of the possible owners is the Saudi prince al-Walid bin Talal, the owner of the Savoy hotel chain. The design is developed by the well-known Design-Q agency. In a space typically accommodating 600 passengers, the owner and his guests will enjoy five-star service throughout their journey. A personal car will naturally be parked in the highest category - right on the plane.

The elevator from the plane descends directly to the asphalt - ladders are a thing of the past. The red carpet is backed by a plethora of lights – “to give the impression of ascending Olympus,” says Design-Q co-founder Harry Doy.

The entire ground floor of the A380 has been turned into a relaxation area, including a marble hammam. True, a stone two millimeters thick was used to reduce weight. Next door is the “Positivity Room” – as it was called due to the fact that the walls and floor here turned into a giant screen – a real royal view. Guests can stand on a makeshift "flying carpet" and watch the landscape passing by, moreover, they can even feel a light breeze created artificially for greater effect.

If work is truly unavoidable, a meeting room is at hand, with iTouch screens and online stock quotes projected on tables. For conference calls a business partner on the ground can join the meeting via videoconference at any time.

A set of royal needs - a truly imperial five:
- entertainment system,
- a prayer room with a projection of Mecca in the middle,
- shuttle lift
- a concert hall with a piano for 10 seats,
- as well as a garage.

There is also a small hotel inside - 20 first-class beds for additional guests. According to the designers, they will be stylized under the graceful curves and whirlpools of Arabic writing. The creators of this air palace themselves say: “We are not trying to put a hotel in the air, everything is created in accordance with the needs of the flight, and has characteristic features that fit into the concept of air travel. The Turkish bath here is especially interesting - the steam room with marble and subdued lighting helps to relax perfectly”

The richest people in the world often delight themselves with pleasant "trifles". Not so long ago, Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan comes from the ruling dynasty of Abu Dhabi immortalized his name in an unusual way. He wrote it in kilometer letters, which can be seen even from space, on an island in Persian Gulf five kilometers from Abu Dhabi.

There is another famous Arab billionaire known to the world as the Rainbow Sheikh. To him owns a collection of 200 cars that are painted in all the colors of the rainbow and run on a specific day of the week. By the way, the car garage is shaped like an ancient Egyptian pyramid. He also owns the world's largest truck, which has four bedrooms in the cab. Another giant car is a motor home, it has the shape of a globe, and its dimensions are exactly a millionth of the size of the planet Earth.

Look here in more detail - Sheikh and

Let's return now again to our prince. Back in 2011, it became known that Kingdom Holding, owned by the Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal, had signed a contract for the construction of the Kingdom Tower skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, the height of which would exceed 1000 meters.

The tallest skyscraper in the world - Kingdom Tower will rise more than 1 km. over the city of Jeddah, off the coast of the Red Sea. The tower will include hotels, residential apartments, offices and the world's highest observation deck. Adrian Smith was appointed the chief architect of the project, he also designed the Burj Khalifa, as well as a number of other skyscrapers in the USA, China and the UAE (see his website). The sum of the prisoner Kingdom Holding The contract is valued at $1.2 billion. Kingdom Tower will become the central and first stage of the construction of the district kingdom city, in the construction of which the Saudi prince is ready to invest a total of $ 20 billion.

Azzam

Length (m) 180

Speed ​​in knots 30

Number of guests 22

The launch of the 180-meter boat took place in April 2013, now it is the largest yacht in the world, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse has lost its crown. A huge yacht capable of speeds of 30 knots was built at the German shipyard Lurssen in record time - in just three years. Azzam cost the owner (rumored to be Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal) more than $600 million.

In early March 2013, Forbes published its annual ranking of the richest people on the planet. Often, it is from this list that businessmen find out how much their assets cost in total. And learn about it not only the rich themselves, but the whole world. Not all billionaires like this alignment - many would prefer not to attract too much attention. “Money loves silence,” businessmen often say, but one of the richest men on the planet, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, clearly disagrees. The Arab investor, ranked 26th in the 2013 Forbes ranking, claims that the magazine has underestimated his fortune by a third, to $20 billion.

Former al-Waleed employees told Forbes that Kingdom Holding's IPO was also for image purposes. “It's great to take the company public. They write a lot about you in the press, ”one of his former employees explained the investor’s motives. The Forbes rating is for the prince (however, as well as for the whole world) the main measure of success. Al-Waleed regularly collaborated with the magazine, providing every opportunity to evaluate his assets.

In 2006, Forbes estimated that al-Waleed's fortune had dropped by $7 billion due to the collapse of Kingdom Holding shares. Then the prince called the editor Kerry Dolan (Kerry Dolan) and "almost in tears" asked her to check the value of his assets again, apparently hoping for a mistake and a higher place in the rankings.

This year, everything happened according to a similar scenario: the prince tried with all his might to prove that his condition should be assessed according to his own data. Meanwhile, the editors of the magazine discovered one curious pattern: the shares of Kingdom Holding - the key asset of the prince - rose in price for several years in a row 2.5 months before the publication of the rating of billionaires. Given the closeness of the Saudi stock market and a small number of shares in free float (five percent), the investor could easily manipulate quotes, overestimating his fortune. This information was confirmed to the publication by unnamed sources; Ernst & Young, an auditing company, also drew attention to the discrepancy between the real value of assets and market quotes.

As a result, Forbes decided to focus on valuing al-Walid's underlying assets - shares in Four Seasons, Movenpick, Fairmont Raffles and other shares, as well as hotels and other real estate. Calculations showed that Kingdom Holding is worth 10.6 billion dollars, that is, almost two times less than the capitalization calculated from market quotes. To this amount was added the value of assets not included in Kingdom Holding, as well as cars, aircraft, yachts and other luxury goods. Ultimately, the publication decided that al-Walid's fortune did not exceed $ 20 billion, and awarded him an honorable 26th place in the ranking.

Even a week before Forbes completed its calculations, the prince sent his financial director to the editorial office with instructions to achieve the “correct” assessment of the state - $ 29.6 billion, by all means. As a result, the editors decided to settle on their own calculations, which only changed the position of al-Walid in the ranking - even with 26th place, he remained the richest Arab.

In response, al-Waleed accused Forbes of being ethnically biased and demanded that he be removed from the rankings. The prince said in a press release that the publication's team uses the wrong methods to calculate the value of assets and makes serious mistakes. In this regard, he decided to break all ties with Forbes.

The publication notes that none of the billionaires have made so much effort to inflate their fortune. The vanity of al-Walid played a cruel joke on him - if earlier the desire of a businessman for ostentatious luxury was perceived as the norm, given his royal origin, now the prince clearly stands out even against the background of his noble compatriots.
or for example . And now not about politics: and more The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

Prince Al-Waleed on his 83-day imprisonment

One of the richest men in the world talks about his capture by the Saudi Arabian government.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has repeatedly failed to become the richest investor in the Middle East and one of the most recognizable faces of Saudi Arabia. In the 1980s, he went bankrupt, and during financial crisis Lost billions of dollars in 2008 to Citigroup Inc. But nothing compares to the humiliation he has endured over the past few months. Last November, Al-Waleed's uncle, King Salman, and his cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, staged a government crackdown on alleged fraudsters, embezzlers and money launderers, resulting in Al-Waleed being detained and locked up for 83 days in what became the infamous Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh.

I saw Al-Waleed at the end of October, a week before he became a government prisoner. We spent the evening at his desert camp talking about financial markets and US politics, watching a football game on TV, walking on the sands, and eating late dinners in the cool midnight air. I returned to the kingdom in mid-March, seven weeks after its release. Al-Waleed decided to break his silence and give an interview to Bloomberg Television.

The day before the interview, we had an informal meeting at his palace in Riyadh. I waited in the foyer, and the prince came down the grand staircase from the second floor. He was dressed simply: beige taub, brown blazer and sandals - and seemed relaxed. For the next two hours, he talked about his "ordeals" while drinking Arabic coffee and ginger tea, while his five grandchildren sang and danced in the palace gym under hot n cold Katy Perry.

Early in the morning of November 4, Al-Walid, who had arrived at his camp for the weekend, received a phone call asking him to appear at the royal court. He left immediately, unaware of the trap. Sensational details of the anti-corruption purge were soon revealed, and news broadcasts were full of reports that among the hundreds of tycoons, government ministers, and other princes detained at the Ritz-Carlton, Al-Waleed was the most prominent. In three days, shares of his main company, Kingdom Holding Co. , fell by 21 percent.

Al-Waleed has been a boon for a government that wants to show its people that no Saudi can escape responsibility in the fight against parasites and bribery: with a net worth of $17.1 billion, he ranks 65th in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And his international prominence, forged through friendships and business partnerships with Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and others, rivals that of Prince Mohammed. Kingdom Holding's portfolio includes Four Seasons hotels and resorts, as well as Citigroup, Eurodisney, and Twitter. And the Rotana Group, which he controls separately, is the largest entertainment company in the Arab world.

The government put the question point-blank: pay off, sign a guilty plea and go free, or refuse and languish in captivity. According to the Wall Street Journal, the price of Al-Waleed's release was six billion dollars. The negotiations were held in secret, and the government made no accusations or presented any evidence. Critics said the captives were being denied due process and accused Prince Mohammed of running a campaign of intimidation and extortion under the guise of fighting corruption.

Context

When the princes were locked up at the Ritz

Rumors began to surface of ill-treatment and even torture at the Ritz-Carlton, which quickly made it to the Daily Mail Online and regional media. So when at the end of January, still in the hotel, the prince appeared in a smartphone video, exhausted and tired after two and a half months of imprisonment, speculation only intensified. He declared that he was being treated decently, but no one believed this. (More recently, The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that some detainees were physically abused and otherwise forced to confess, and one of the military officers in custody died with all signs of a severe beating.)

Since his release, Al-Waleed has put on some weight and seems to me as energetic, lively and busy as ever. But from the conversation it becomes clear that he is trying his best to cope with what happened. Even if he is innocent - and he insists he is - the government has placed him on the same footing as a group of swindlers. And any complaint can cause anger, which he already directly encountered.

We conducted the interview at a makeshift site in Al-Waleed's apartment on the 67th floor of the Kingdom skyscraper in Riyadh. As I went inside, I thought about how open he could be with me. Will he talk about his life at the Ritz-Carlton? Does the fact acknowledge any harm done to him? Did he have to make a deal with the devil to get his release? Can you trust his words? What if the government threatened him? Can I talk about it?

Below are excerpts from our conversation, which had to be slightly edited for clarity.

Let's start with the obvious: why?

Al-Waleed's detention was mysterious compared to the rest. Of all the arrested princes, he is the only one who has never served in the government of Saudi Arabia, where "kickbacks" are considered commonplace. And unlike other businessmen, he was not a government contractor, and therefore he could not overestimate tariffs. He made most of his wealth transparently in real estate and as an investor in the open markets.

Eric Shatzker: First question: why were you arrested?

Prince Al Waleed: I wouldn't use that word because we were first invited to the palace and then asked to drive to the Ritz-Carlton. Everything was done with honor and dignity, and in relation to everyone, not just me.

Does this mean that the word "arrest" is fair to use only in relation to those who committed a crime and pleaded guilty?

Exactly. And reached an agreement with the government. But in my case, as you know, the situation is quite different.

So there were no charges? Have you been accused of anything at all?

There were no charges. Because I have a fiduciary responsibility to my shareholders in Kingdom Holding, my friends in Saudi Arabia and the entire global community, and in view of our worldwide investments, it is very important to be free of both blame and guilt.

You dubbed your ordeals a misunderstanding. What was it connected with?

I say "misunderstanding" because I don't think I should have been there. Now that everything is behind me, I would say that all suspicions have been removed from me. However, I must say that we have indeed reached a full understanding with the government.

What does it mean?

This is confidential information and I can't talk about it. But there is an understanding between me and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Does it require some action from you?

Not necessary. Again, I can not expand on this, because the information is secret and concerns only me and the government. But be sure: it does not constrain me in any way.

What did the government want from you?

I will not go into the details of the discussions that took place between me and government officials.

They must have wanted something.

I read in the press that they allegedly wanted to snatch a piece from me. But these are all rumors.

According to one report, it was about six billion dollars.

I have read about six billion, as well as more and less.

What did your freedom cost you? Weren't you asked to pay the government some money, give up some holdings, or give up some shares?

You must respect the confidential agreement reached between me and the government of Saudi Arabia based on a proven understanding.

I am a citizen of Saudi Arabia. And also a member of the royal family. The King is my uncle and Mohammed bin Salman is my cousin. I am interested in maintaining and keeping our relationship secret.

You maintain your innocence and say you didn't sign any plea agreement.

We have indeed signed a certain document, a confirmed mutual understanding. Some might call it a settlement agreement. I don't think so, because in my understanding an agreement is an acknowledgment that you did something wrong.

Of course, you understand how important it is to be honest and frank with me. If another version appears, your credibility will suffer.

Of course.

So everything you said is 100% true?

I have a confirmed understanding with the government and it continues to operate. I will elaborate on this: it is a permanent process with the government.

Al-Waleed's reputation question

Already, Kingdom Holding is talking to lenders about raising $2 billion in debt financing — “firepower” for the next deal, the prince says.

These events have affected your reputation. No matter what you say in this interview, people will still be convinced that once you're at the Ritz-Carlton, you must be guilty of something. Understand it.

When you are detained, someone from the business or banking community will certainly state their doubts. Now my job is to interact, meet all of them, whether privately or collectively, and tell my story.

I understand that it will not be easy, because some banks and representatives of the business community will continue to doubt. However, I assure them that everything is in order, everything is back to normal, and we are functioning in the same mode as before.

It would certainly help if the government said: "Al-Waleed did nothing wrong, there was a misunderstanding, he did not buy his freedom and remains a Saudi citizen in good standing." But that didn't happen.

Context

When the princes were locked up at the Ritz

Camels punished for Botox and other deceptions of the Arab world

What is the relationship between Hariri's resignation and the arrests of Saudi princes?

The confirmation of my words is the fact that I am speaking to you now, and I speak truthfully and honestly, and the fact that the government will not say: "Al-Waleed is wrong."

So you feel the need to speak out in order to restore your good name because you have been slandered?

Firstly, I really need to restore my reputation, and secondly, to clarify a lot of false points. For example, that I was tortured and sent to prison. It's a lie. I stayed at the hotel all the time and was never tortured.

Inside the Ritz-Carlton

For three months, 381 Saudis remained locked up at the Ritz-Carlton, which has 492 rooms, 52 acres of land and gigantic conference rooms. Many were quickly released. Al-Walid's tenure was one of the longest. The prince says he was held in room 628, a 4,575-square-foot (425 sqm) royal suite.

What have you been doing all this time?

Sports, walking, meditation, watching the news, prayers.

Describe one typical day.

I went to bed at 6-7 o'clock in the morning, woke up around noon. We prayed five times a day.

Did you have access to television and newspapers?

Everything was accessible.

So, no one outside knew about what was happening inside, and you, being inside, knew about everything that was happening outside?

Exactly. That's why I managed to get information about the so-called torture.

So you weren't abused?

Not at all.

Are you sure that none of the detainees suffered from abuse, torture or beating?

Maybe someone tried to escape or do something crazy. Maybe they were pacified and controlled. Quite possible. But there was nothing that could be called systematic torture.

Were you allowed to speak to other detainees?

No. No one at the Ritz-Carlton could talk to each other. Even in my case. I didn't see anyone, I didn't talk to anyone.

You have been allowed to make several calls. To whom and under what conditions?

I called my son, daughter and granddaughters. And spoke to the heads of my companies CEO Kingdom Holding, head of my personal office and general secretary my fund.

Were the calls tracked?

Probably yes.

Dealing with the Crown Prince

For more than 70 years, the Saudi throne has passed from one brother to another, but Salman broke with the past by handing over control of several government portfolios to his son and making him crown prince last year. Prince Mohammed's plans include the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 economic program, under which the world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, could go public. Movie theaters, banned since the early 1980s, have returned, and in some parts of Riyadh, women are allowed to go bareheaded. And in June, for the first time since 1990, they will be allowed to drive.

How does it feel to be held captive by your own cousin?

Not easy, I must admit. It's hard when you're being held against your will. But after my release, I had a very strange feeling. I gathered all the senior employees of my companies and associates and told them: "I swear to you that I am in complete calm and peace and do not feel resentment or other bad feelings."

And, of course, a day later we were again talking with the royal court, the crown prince and his people. The situation is very strange, but that's how it happened.

Is it because you just needed to move forward?

No. I'm a patriot. I believe in my country. What happened will not make me turn against my uncle, my cousin, my country and my people.

How would you describe your relationship with Prince Mohammed?

They got stronger. This strikes many, even my own people.

Have you forgiven him?

I completely forgot and forgave everything that happened. Everything is left behind.

How often do you communicate with him?

At least once every three days I text him, call him or talk in person.

Do you talk to him every three days?

We mostly correspond, we talk less often. But we talk every week.

Prince Mohammed has a grand plan to transform the Saudi economy and society. Do you still support him in this?

Yes. His vision absorbed many of my ideas, and he multiplied them. I put forward the idea of ​​creating a sovereign fund and talked about the transformation of Aramco into a public company. Women's rights, their competitiveness in society, their driving - I called for all this.

He is laying the foundation for a new era in Saudi Arabia. Any person who opposes what Mohammed bin Salman is doing, I personally consider a traitor.

Navigating the new Saudi Arabia

The crown prince has also become the largest Saudi investor, pumping tens of billions of government dollars into Uber Technologies Inc. and funds managed by Blackstone Group and SoftBank Group.

Does the government want you to create and maintain relationships with heads of state and heads of international companies?

I was released without being burdened with any conditions, I maintained contacts with many heads of state in Europe and the Middle East. Everything is fine.

Can you travel?

Of course I can.

Do you know if the government is monitoring your whereabouts?

I don't care.

What about your bank accounts?

Everything is back to normal.

Are you looking for foreign investment, as is the State Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Isn't this competition?

Actually, in terms of participation in many projects, we keep in touch with the government. They have planned big project in the Red Sea with resorts like the Maldives. There will also be Four Seasons hotels. We were also invited to take part in another Riyadh project, the construction of a huge entertainment center in Disney style.

We are involved in the hospitality industry, facilities mass media and in the entertainment industry. So there is no competition, we complement each other.

What about joint investments? Will PIF invest with Kingdom Holding or perhaps Rotana or Prince Al Waleed himself?

Yes, this will happen. Now we are discussing certain projects with PIF.

Domestic projects or international ventures?

Internal to begin with.

The crown prince visits Western countries, meets with Trump at the White House and tries to attract capital to Saudi Arabia. Considering what happened to you at the Ritz-Carlton, how satisfied are you that you represent a united front with the government, the very thing that brought you to that hotel?

I support Saudi Arabia, I support my government, I support King Salman and Prince Mohammed in every way. So it was before, during and after the arrest.

It will be difficult for people to understand.

They do not understand that you are talking to a person who is a member of the royal family. We are all in the same boat here. On one side. We are the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.

I understand that from the point of view of ordinary citizens it sounds strange. They will definitely say “Are you still supporting the King and the Crown Prince after being their prisoner?”

You have to think about how willing CEOs will be to invest in Saudi Arabia after seeing this kind of dispute resolution.

Let them decide for themselves. On my own behalf, I can say the following: things are going on as usual, and we will continue to invest in Saudi Arabia.

Eric Shatzker- Canadian presenter and editor of Bloomberg Television, has 15 years of experience in covering events in the world of investment and economics.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

This weekend in Saudi Arabia, there were mass detentions of members of the royal family and people associated with it. Among those suspected of corruption was Prince Al-Waleed, who tried to establish ties with Russia

Al Waleed (Photo: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

“Putting personal interests above the public”

On the evening of November 4, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia issued a decree to combat corruption and announced that he intended to completely put an end to abuses in the country's power structures. As the monarch explained, in the highest government circles there were people “who put their personal interests above public ones” in order to enrich themselves illegally.

Shortly thereafter, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported mass arrests: 11 members of the Saudi royal family, four current and "dozens" of former ministers were suspected of corruption. Among them are Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and former head Ministry of the National Guard Prince Mitab bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. What exactly the representatives of the Saudi dynasty did is not explained. However, Bloomberg reported that Al-Waleed, in particular, was detained at his desert camp.

On Monday, November 6, a senior Saudi official told,. Billionaire Al-Walid is suspected of money laundering, bribery and extortion from officials. Prince Mitab bin Abdullah is accused of embezzlement, hiring dead souls, transferring government contracts to his own companies, among which is a $ 10 billion deal for the supply of walkie-talkies and bulletproof vests. Former Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf is accused of embezzlement in the expansion of the Great Mosque of Mecca. In addition, he is suspected of using his official position and confidential information in transactions with land. The ex-governor of Riyadh, Prince Turki ibn Abdullah, according to the authorities, also provided contracts to his own companies, and also committed abuses during the construction of the subway.

prince vs prince

Against the background of fragmentary data from Saudi Arabia, there were different versions of what goal the 81-year-old monarch pursued. According to Bloomberg, the detentions only fueled rumors that King Salman is clearing the way to the throne for his 32-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. It was his supporter Khaled Ayyaf who replaced Mitab as head of the National Guard Ministry. The interlocutors of the agency pointed to the fact that in recent months it was people from the Crown Prince’s entourage who occupied responsible posts, and Mitab hardly held his positions.

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (Photo: Yuri Kochetkov / EPA)

Middle East expert Hani Sabra told Bloomberg that the strengthening of the crown prince's position has previously caused discontent among many influential Saudis. Now, with Khaled Ayyaf in charge of what was considered the stronghold of the former King Abdullah's clan, it is almost impossible to predict the reaction within the royal family.

Specialists took great surprise at the detention of Al-Walid, who repeatedly expressed his loyalty to both King Salman and his son. For example, in September, a huge portrait of the monarch was displayed on the skyscraper Alwaleed Kingdom Tower in honor of the national holiday. However, Market Watch indicates that the prince may have been reminded of his relatives. If Al-Walid himself did not claim a leading role in government, then his father Talal bin Abdul Aziz actively opposed the promotion of Prince Mohammed. The sources of the publication associate a quick cleansing within the ruling dynasty with allegedly decision Salman to retire at the end of this or early next year.

Facing Iran and back to Trump

The detention of Al-Waleed caused surprise among his business associates. According to The New York Times, it was no coincidence that he was called the Middle Eastern Warren Buffett. Forbes estimates the fortune of Prince Al-Waleed at $18 billion, which allows him to occupy the 45th place in the ranking of the richest people in the world. He owns a 95% stake in Kingdom Holding and is the largest shareholder of one of the international financial conglomerates Citigroup (more than 6% of the shares). He also owns shares in companies such as Four Seasons (together with Bill Gates they own 95% of the shares), Twitter, 21st Century Fox, Disney. He also owns the George V hotels in Paris and the Plaza in New York.

According to The New York Times, the arrest of the prince was made against the backdrop of a strengthening friendship between Prince Mohammed and US President Donald Trump. Al-Waleed despite difficult relationship between Riyadh and Tehran, was going to invest in the Iranian economy a few years ago and abandoned this idea because of the tough position of King Salman. Mohammed, in his views on Tehran, does not contradict Trump in any way.

Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Donald Trump (Photo: Mandel Mgan/EPA)

At the same time, it should be noted that Trump did not have a relationship with Al-Waleed. Back in time election campaign in the US, businessmen exchanged barbs. Prince named Republican candidate "

$21 billion

Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud

The wealth of the ruling Saudi dynasty is not usually associated with business acumen, financial luck or hard work. The only exception is the multi-billion dollar fortune of Prince al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud. Having become chairman of his own company at 14 and a billionaire at 31, Prince al-Waleed, now 51, is a typical Western-style businessman who created himself and his capital, now estimated at $21 billion.

At the beginning of the 20th century, King Ibn Saud, with fire and sword, managed to unite the disparate tribes of the Arabian Peninsula into one state. Since 1932, the Saudi dynasty has been the ruling royal dynasty of Saudi Arabia and the custodian of one of the main common Muslim shrines - the Kaaba temple in Mecca. The al-Saud clan has over a thousand princes and princesses. The most famous of them - Prince al-Walid - stands out not only for the size of his fortune, but also for his high hierarchical position in the clan: he is the nephew of the current king of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Walid was born in 1957 from the marriage of the Prince of Blood of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Lebanon. The parents divorced when the child was three years old, and until his 11th birthday, the boy lived with his mother in Beirut. The young offspring of the royal family was sent to America to be educated. Here, the prince graduated from Menlo College in San Francisco (has a bachelor's degree in business administration) and a master's degree in social sciences from Syracuse University in New York.

An adherent and guardian of Wahhabism in America became addicted to morning jogging, fell in love with Coca-Cola, masterfully mastered the ability to wear business suits and, they say, was even an active participant in rampant student parties.

The prince began his business activities in 1979 by providing intermediary services to foreign companies that wanted to do business with Saudi Arabia. Given the prince's proximity to the royal family and his informal influence in the region, the start was successful. In 1980, al-Waleed bin Talal established the Mamlaka Company (Kingdom in English). He himself says that he created the business with the help of $30,000 borrowed from his father and a $400,000 loan secured by a house donated by his parent. Al-Waleed continued to actively use his privileged position, obtaining lucrative construction contracts and buying land at reduced prices for subsequent resale. However, according to al-Walid himself, his contracts and real estate deals in the Riyadh district were nothing more than a “glare on the radar screen.” The metaphor used by the prince cannot be called anything other than a Freudian slip: at that time, the prince was even more interested in war than in business.

The war in Afghanistan was sacred to devout Muslims. The Saudi dynasty, at the head of Wahhabism, could not remain aloof from the events in Afghanistan. And al-Walid actively helped the Afghan Mujahideen in the fight against the Soviet Union. In 1981, the prince even had a chance to visit training camps in Peshawar, where the Mujahideen were combat training. However, after the withdrawal Soviet troops from the territory of Afghanistan in 1989 and the beginning of the civil war in that country, al-Walid stopped sending money there. According to him, he made his last donation to the Mujahideen in April 1990, giving them $5.4 million.

Although many of my compatriots still finance the Afghan Mujahideen today, I myself do not do this anymore,- the prince admitted in an interview with one of the American publications. Whose money the novice businessman spent to support the Mujahideen, however, still remains a mystery. According to official information, the turnover of his company was more than modest.

As a serious businessman, al-Walid became known only in 1988 after acquiring a large stake in the United Saudi Commercial Bank. But even this acquisition provided the prince with the status of a prominent financial player only within the kingdom. However, two years later, the prince took a step that allowed him to become a prominent figure on a global scale: he acquired a 20.8% stake in Citibank.

In the fall of 1990, America's largest bank found itself in a very difficult position: losses on lending to real estate transactions amounted to $ 1 billion, and the search for investors willing to help recapitalize was unsuccessful. Shares rapidly depreciated.

At the end of 1990, al-Waleed purchased a 4.9% stake in this corporation for $207 million ($12.46 a share). In February 1991, when the Americans received permission to use Saudi territory to deploy their troops in Operation Desert Storm, the prince managed to buy another stake in Citigroup preferred shares. By early 1994, the value of the company's shares skyrocketed, boosting al-Walid's wealth and bolstering his reputation as a successful businessman.

It would seem that everything is logical and transparent. But a study by The Economist experts raised some doubts, firstly, about the reality of his success as a strategic investor, and secondly, about the sources of his main income. According to The Economist's analysis, at that time al-Waleed simply did not have the financial means to invest $797 million in the shares of a foreign company.

Following his success in acquiring shares in Citigroup, Prince al-Waleed's empire expanded beyond Saudi Arabia and continued to grow rapidly. He has invested in media, telecommunications, information systems, banking and large hotel chains.

However, Citibank became almost the only successful investment of the capital of the Saudi tycoon. All of his other $3 billion investments outside of Saudi Arabia increased by no more than $800 million over the course of several years in the early 1990s! In the rankings of American investors, the prince would have ranked somewhere at the bottom of the list, and it is certainly out of the question to compare al-Waleed to Warren Buffett. Meanwhile, Time magazine called him the "Arab Warren Buffett" and Forbes one of the world's most astute investors. In 1995, Business Week predicted that by 2010 al-Waleed would be the most powerful and influential businessman on the planet.

The prince's most unsuccessful venture was his highly publicized attempt to save European Disneyland, as a result of which the shares he acquired depreciated by a quarter. The Sachs concern, the Planet Hollywood cafe chain, and the Proton company can be put in the same row.

Yet, against all economic laws, the prince's empire continued to grow. Since the mid-1990s, al-Waleed has spent about $4.5 billion annually. At the same time, al-Walid rarely sold his shares and denied the possibility of replenishing his fortune through inheritance or gifts from wealthy relatives. In this case, - the experts of the magazine "The Economist" argued, - possible sources of replenishment of the capital of the prince could be: a) the use of other people's funds; b) loans; c) income from investments; d) trade.

Investing other people's money in profitable projects is a fairly common practice in Saudi Arabia, especially among members of the royal family who do not want to shine in the business world once again. Meanwhile, al-Waleed brushes aside the suggestion that he is not investing his own money. As for loans, here the prince prefers to manage with his own funds. According to the prince, trade does not fascinate him either.

What remains is the return on investment. But even here the debit does not converge with the credit. By the end of 1999, al-Walid's fortune was estimated at $14.3 billion. His investments abroad amounted to 11 billion, and in Saudi Arabia - about 700 million. In addition, he held $1.1 billion in hard currency. According to experts, it turned out that 12.8 billion bring the prince $ 223 million in annual profits.

However, al-Walid declared that his annual profit at that time was 500 million a year. The experts were puzzled: Is it possible that most of the profit - 277 million - is brought by the remaining 1.5 billion dollars at the prince's disposal?! At the same time, it must be borne in mind that al-Walid's personal property in the form of a palace, aircraft, yachts, etc., which at that time was worth $ 550 million, did not bring any profit at all.

Needless to say, the Saudi prince asked international experts in the field of economics a riddle in the spirit of oriental fairy tales. Perhaps that is why most business publications prefer not to analyze the investment strategy of al-Walid, but to discuss the exotic features of his life and way of life. Thanks to glossy magazines, it is widely known that the prince does not drink or smoke, consumes no more than 130 calories a day and still, as in his student years, makes daily runs. Correspondents of glossy publications are not embarrassed by the fact that, according to their own information, the prince works in a makeshift office equipped with satellite communications and half a dozen telephones under the shadow of a Bedouin tent in the Saudi desert. The imagination refuses to imagine Prince al-Walid jogging through the desert at night. However, it is quite possible that something like a running track was built especially for him in the desert, winding around the oasis ... What there is no doubt about is his ability to live in a big way. In 2008, Prince Al-Waleed became the first private individual to buy an Airbus A380. The liner was named "Flying Palace". 350 million euros were spent on tuning the aircraft and about two years of work. The aircraft has a marble dining room for 14 people, a bar decorated with canvases in the colors of the Arabian desert, a bathroom with a jacuzzi, and a sauna. There is also a gym on board the plane, which (according to confirmed information) definitely has several treadmills used by the prince and his guests.

The current mortgage crisis in the US has nearly bankrupted Citibank, of which al-Waleed is the largest shareholder. Saudi Arabia is also not the kind of country Western investors want to invest their money in, fearful of the country's harsh regulations and low transparency. Saudi equity indices have been falling for the past two years. All these circumstances for a long time and, apparently, for a long time knocked the prince out of the leaders of the Forbes list.

But he still surprises the world with the size of his spending, and glossy magazines still do not skimp on the praise of Prince al-Walid. Now it is described as a long-term investor with a global mindset, who, thanks to his instinct, successfully invests in promising companies underestimated by others.

Despite the fact that in the coming years the prince does not shine to take the place of Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, he worked one hundred percent as a PR project for the Saudi royal family. At least for the subjects of the monarch and friends of the family, the glory of the prince should be a source of satisfaction. The extravagance and greed of the Saudis for a long time caused confusion among Western businessmen who tried to deal with them. Now they have a source of pride - a decent and generous offspring, who demonstrates an amazing ability to earn capital "thanks to his mind and hard work."