Nephew
of the Saudi king. Born to Prince Talal, son of the founding
King of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and Princess Mona
El-Solh, daughter of Riad El-Solh, the first Prime Minister
of modern day Lebanon and a leader of Lebanese independence.
Kingdom
Holding contains his investments in well-known companies
such as Citigroup and News Corp., as well as Four Seasons
Hotels and Fairmont Hotel management companies.
In the
early 1990s, Alwaleed made a risky bet on Citigroup that
paid off hugely; in recent years it accounted for nearly
half his fortune.
In July 2005,
he donated $20 million to the Louvre Museum, the largest
gift ever to the museum. It will help to fund the construction
of a wing for the Louvre's vast collection of Islamic art.
Nicknamed
by Time magazine as the Arabian Warren Buffett.
He has
ordered a new yacht currently known as the New Kingdom 5KR
which will be about 170m long and will costs $500+ million.
He owns
300 cars.
Airbus
confirmed that Al-Walid, already owner of a Boeing 747 jet
converted to private use, had ordered an Airbus A380, the
world's largest passenger aircraft. Outfitted for private
use, the aircraft is to be delivered in 2010.
Al-Waleed
and his children live in a $100 million sand-colored palace
whose 317 rooms are adorned with 1,500 tons of Italian marble,
silk oriental carpets, gold-plated faucets and 250 TV sets.
Their royal highnesses can swim in a lagoon-shaped pool,
or catch a film in the 45-seat basement cinema.
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