Prince Al-Walid bin Talal
Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, also nicknamed the Arabian Warren Buffett is a member of the Saudi Royal Family. He is also an entrepreneur and international investor and was ranked by Forbes as the 20th richest person in the world in 2007.
Al-Walid is the son of Prince Talal and grandson of the founding King of Saudi Arabia and Riad El-Solh, minister of modern day Lebanon. He attended Menlo College, Syracuse University as well as the University of Exeter. By the end of his tertiary education he had completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, a Masters in Social Science and an honorary PhD. Despite his royal status, Al-Walid stayed out of the core of political power of Saudi Arabia. He focused his attention on investment through the Kingdom Holding Company, a large international corporation which he built. He does however, openly criticize and raise his views on women's rights and Saudi traditionalism as well as Saudi Aramco, the state owned oil company. He has also donated $10 million to finance American study programmes.
The Prince began his business career in 1979. He started off brokering deals with foreign businesses by means of a $30,000 loan from his father and his mortgage of $300,000. In 1980, he moved into the Saudi banking industry and got involved in major land deals. In 1990 Al-Walid made US$10 billion after buying shares and investing over $500 million in Citicorp, which at the time was experiencing financial difficulties. These alone contributed to one third of his wealth. Other investments of his include AOL, Apple Inc., Worldcom, Motorola, News Corporation Ltd and other technology and media companies as well as the Four Seasons hotel chain, the Plaza Hotel in New York, London's Savoy Hotel, Monaco's Monte Carlo Grand Hotel and Euro Disney SCA.
Al-Walid started planning a $10 billion project called the Burj Al-Meel in 2008 that will form the tallest skyscraper in the world at 1600m high.
He has great alliances in the France, Mali, Pakistan and especially in the US and has donated over $60 million to various organizations around America. His assets include a yacht formally known as the Trump Princess as well as New Kingdom 5KR which is worth $500+ million. He owns 300 cars, a Boeing 747 jet and an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft. His palace consists of 1, 500 tons of the most expensive materials and has 317 rooms. He also owns another palace for visiting guests.
Prince Al-Walid's net worth is estimated at $29.5 billion.