prince alwaleed bin talal yacht

This Saudi Prince’s yacht once turned away and blocked the docking of Roman Abramovich’s $700M Eclipse megayacht – Owned by early Twitter investor Alwaleed bin Talal this 282 feet yacht is so cool that it played an important role in a James Bond film.

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From selling a Saudi billionaire his 282-foot yacht to sword-dancing on his first international trip as president, Trump's ties with Saudi Arabia run deep

In 1991, trump sold his 282-foot yacht named "the trump princess" to a saudi billionaire for $20 million..

At the time, Trump was almost bankrupt and looking to make some fast cash, reportedly selling the yacht to Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for one third less than he paid for it.

In 1995, Trump also sold New York City's Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed and Singaporean investors for $325 million. In turn, they sold it nearly a decade later for $675 million. In July, Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company re-purchased the Plaza along with a New York-based firm.

In November 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, launched a supposed anti-corruption purge largely seen as a consolidation of his power, arresting several Saudi princes and business leaders.

Alwaleed was one of those MBS had detained, forced to stay at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton for 83 days. You can read more about that here .

In 2001, Trump sold the 45th floor of Trump Tower to the Saudi court for $4.5 million. In 2008, the floor became part of the Saudi mission to the United Nations.

The New York Daily News revealed the sale in September 2016 after Trump had attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail for the Clinton Foundation accepting money from Saudi Arabia.

"Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate," Trump wrote on Facebook in June 2016. "I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!"

But earlier, at a 2015 rally in Alabama, Trump had said: "Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me.

"They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much," Trump added.

Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate, Trump wrote on Facebook in June 2016. I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!

But earlier, at a 2015 rally in Alabama, Trump had said: Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me.

They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much, Trump added.

After announcing his presidential candidacy, Trump incorporated several companies with names indicating that they may do business in Saudi Arabia, such as "THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC." Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.

After he was elected, Trump's company, the Trump Organization, announced that it had shut down those companies.

Source: Buzzfeed News , CBS

Since Trump took office, the Saudi government has also been a major customer of the president's hotels in New York and Washington DC.

Between October 2016 and March 2017, MSL Group Americas, a lobbying group working for the Saudi government, spent $270,000 at Trump International Hotel in DC for lodging, catering and parking.

In June 2017, the Trump Organization announced it would donate all profits from the sales to charity.

In March 2018, the Trump organization said it had donated $151,470 to charity, but ethics experts have challenged the company's calculations of the actual profits.

Also in March 2018, members of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage stayed at the president's Trump International Hotel in New York, which caused the hotel's quarterly profits to go up 13 percent.

The Maryland and DC Attorneys general have since filed suit against the president , arguing that the transactions could also violate the Constitution's emoluments clause, which prohibits federal officeholders from receiving anything of value from a foreign state.

Source: Washington Post

In 2017, Saudi Arabia said it would invest $20 billion in a US infrastructure fund before Trump unveiled a $200 billion plan to fix the US's roads, airports and more.

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who visited Saudi Arabia with Trump in 2017, has since withdrawn from an investment meeting in Saudi Arabia planned for next week.

Trump has also intimately engaged with the Saudi court in other ways, including participating in a traditional sword dance known as ardah.

In May 2017, Trump simultaneously touched an odd glowing orb with Saudi King Salman and Egypt's President Sisi, which reportedly symbolized their intentions to combat exremism.

Source: CNN

Trump has also said that the US cannot rescind on its $110 billion arms deal, $14.5 billion of which has gone through to Saudi Arabia, arguing that Riyadh would just turn to China or Russia.

The US had already faced criticism for the arms deal over the Saudi-led coalition's execution of the war against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, which has become one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, have also formed a cozy relationship as they have discussed initiatives to reshape the Middle East since Trump was elected.

You can read more about that here and here .

But Trump has denied any financial ties to the Saudi court.

"For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter)," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!"

For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter), Trump tweeted on Tuesday. Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!

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Owner of Kingdom 5KR Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to donate billions to charity

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has announced he will donate all of his $32 billion fortune to charity. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the owner of superyacht Kingdom 5KR .

In an official statement, the Saudi Prince said that his billions would go his organisation, Alwaleed Philanthropies, and be used to “foster cultural understanding” and support communities in need, including aiding disaster relief. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal also said the donation of his fortune would help causes that “empower women” – the Prince’s progressive views on women’s issues can be seen in his staff, which counts many women in its roster. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has already donated $3.5 billion to his charity.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is one of the world’s wealthiest people, ranked at number 34 on Forbes ’ list of the world’s billionaires. While he is a royal – the nephew to King Salman – Prince Alwaleed bin Talal doesn’t hold any official government position and is widely considered a “self-made” billionaire. According to the AP , he built his wealth through seed money from his father and varied investments. His company, Kingdom Holdings, owns stakes in Disney, Apple, Twitter, GM, News Corp, 21st Century Fox, and hotel groups including the The Four Seasons, Raffles and Fairmont.

Now Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is donating all of his fortune, stating he has been inspired by the Gates Foundation, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. Bill Gates enjoys yachting holidays himself, having been spotted on superyacht Serene last year.

"Philanthropy is a personal responsibility, which I embarked upon more than three decades ago and is an intrinsic part of my Islamic faith," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said in the statement.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns the superyacht Kingdom 5KR , launched by Benetti in 1980. The 85.9 metre displacement motor yacht was designed by Luigi Sturchio , and she enjoyed a refit in 1993. The 1,768GT, Saudi Arabia-flagged yacht can accommodate 22 guests.

No word yet on whether donating all his wealth includes the eventual sale of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s superyacht Kingdom 5KR as well. An exact timeline of the donations was not announced in his statement, but the Prince said that the donation of his billions would occur through a “well-devised” plan in the coming years, supervised by a board of trustees that he will head.

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See What’s Inside Donald Trump’s Former Superyacht

By Nick Mafi

When Donald J. Trump bought a 282-foot superyacht from Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi in the late 1980s, it was among the largest in the world. Outfitted in marble and gold (and a master bedroom ceiling made of endangered tortoise shell), and equipped with such amenities as a helipad, a disco, and a movie theater, the Trump Princess seemed the perfect vessel for a man with a penchant for glitz. In fact, one of Trump’s first requests was to change the H on the helipad to a T.

The Trump Princess, which includes 11 cabins for 22 guests and 31 crew members, wasn’t in the real-estate tycoon’s possession for very long. By 1991, Trump was forced to sell his beloved boat. The buyer was Saudi Prince Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who renamed the vessel the Kingdom 5KR, after his lucky number and his two children's first initials.

The yacht, which can hit a top speed of 20 knots and a cruising speed of 17.5 knots, was built in Benetti Shipyards in Viareggio, Italy, and designed by renowned craftsman Jon Bannenberg. It was once featured in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983), starring Sean Connery.

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A Saudi prince helped save Trump from bankruptcy—twice

Donald Trump  claimed on Twitter today that he has no “financial interests in Saudi Arabia.” But his financial ties to the kingdom go back a very long way.

In 1991, Donald J. Trump was a mid-tier real estate developer with $900 million in debt, a collapsing casino business, and a name perhaps best known for a headline-dominating split with his wife Ivana. With his empire at risk of falling apart, Trump was searching for cash everywhere; his father even illegally bought $3.35 million worth of casino chips and never gambled them, to help Trump make a massive bond payment a year earlier.

A helpful burst of cash from a Saudi prince eased some tension with his creditors. Alwaleed bin Talal bought Trump’s yacht for somewhere between $18 million and $20 million (reports vary). It wasn’t a great bit of business for Trump—he had bought it from the Sultan of Brunei three years earlier for a reported $29 million .

In 1995, Trump was still in deep trouble—and Alwaleed swooped in again . The prince, who calls himself the “Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia,” took over Trump’s 51% stake in his beloved New York Plaza hotel. As a result, Trump’s creditors forgave $125 million of his debt.

Alwaleed, who was one of several royals to be detained by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2017, is deemed the world’s 74th richest man by Bloomberg, and owns stakes in companies like Apple, Snapchat, Twitter and Citigroup.

As late as 2015, Trump was still happy to boast about his connections with Saudi Arabia. Speaking at a rally in Alabama, he  bragged : “Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

Correction: A typo in an earlier version of the article stated that Trump was $900 billion in debt in 1991. This article has been updated to note that he was $900 million in debt. 

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The fabulous life of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed

For two years, one of the world's wealthiest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, was locked in a battle with Forbes over his net worth, with the prince claiming the publication had  underestimated his fortune by nearly $9.6 billion .

On Monday, the  disgruntled billionaire  and Forbes Media announced that the defamation suit has been settled on "mutually agreeable terms," Reuters reported. 

The magazine currently has Alwaleed pegged as the 34th richest person in the world, with $22.6 billion in wealth .  (Bloomberg lists Alaweed as the 20th wealthiest in the world, with $30.6 billion in wealth.)

Regardless, Alwaleed is still rich beyond belief from his stake in his Kingdom Holding Company, his Saudi real estate investments, shares in Arab media companies, and investments in public and private companies globally, including Twitter  and Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com.

Lucinda Chen and Julie Zeveloff contributed to this post.

Prince Alwaleed was born into Saudi royalty.

He is the son of Prince Talal and Mona Al Solh .

His maternal grandfather was the first prime minister of Lebanon and his paternal grandfather, King Abdulaziz, created Saudi Arabia.

He attended a California school for college.

It was while attending Menlo College in Atherton, California that he acquired what many believe to be a Western world outlook , making him the go-to Saudi investor for American businessmen.

He got his big break when he invested in a little company called Citicorp.

He received a $30,000 gift, a $300,000 loan, and a house from his father after graduating, and slowly began investing.

In 1991, when Alwaleed was 36, he made a high-stakes decision to invest in Citicorp, which made him $800 million. By 2005, that had turned into $10 billion.

He was married to the beautiful Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, but the pair recently split.

Princess Ameera was Alwaleed's fourth bride .

They were married for eight years, but Alwaleed revealed in a 2015 interview with the Saudi Gazette  that they had recently separated.

"I have officially separated from Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, but she remains a person that I have all respect for. She represented the Saudi woman in the best way through her various participations locally, regionally and internationally," he told the paper.

He has met many of the richest and most impressive people on the planet.

Alwaleed makes a point of meeting and being seen with the world's royals, politicians, and celebrities.

He and his then-wife were guests at Kate Middleton and Prince William's royal wedding , and he's met the Queen of England, Prince Charles, Nicholas Sarkozy, Queen Rania of Jordan, Michael Jackson, and the former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, among others.

He owns an estimated $700 million in jewelry.

When Forbes' Kerry Dolan visited with the Saudi Prince in 2009 , he reportedly showed her part of his impressive jewelry collection that he claimed neither he nor his wife even used:

"The most spectacular set on display was a diamond and emerald necklace with three emeralds the size of sparrow eggs dangling from the center, with earrings and a ring to match. With a combined total of 200 carats, the set is worth $40 million," Dolan wrote.

He sleeps only four hours a night and loves CNBC.

The prince follows a bizarre schedule of going to bed at 4 or 5 am, and waking up at 9 am. He then eats one big meal a day at 8 pm which he calls "lunch,"  according to Forbes.

The TV is constantly turned to CNBC while Alwaleed is eating or working, and the Saudi royal has even appeared as a guest on his favorite TV channel .

He's a women's rights advocate (sort of).

The prince takes pride in the fact that half of the employees of his Kingdom Holding Company are women. "Frankly I always side with qualifications regardless of gender," he told the Saudi Gazette . "I am trying to be fair to women because their rights are still not fully recognized in our country."

But he's been accused of doing it for publicity: For instance, Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson reports his female pilot Hanadi Zakariya Hindi has hardly flown any of Alwaleed's aircraft, and when she was hired, Alwaleed told his aviation staff that she never would .

Alwaleed was reportedly in the running to buy New York's iconic Plaza Hotel.

The billionaire owns a 25% stake in the famous hotel; he reportedly sought to buy the rest of it from its current owner , although that deal has not been done.

The prince also owns the Savoy Hotel in London, and has a stake in Four Seasons.

And he's building the tallest skyscraper on the planet.

The prince has spearheaded the construction of Kingdom Tower,  the tallest planned building in the world (via  Dezeen ).

The skyscraper will rise above Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea, and reach a height of over 3,280 feet.

That's at least 568 feet taller than the world's  current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa  in Dubai, which was designed by the same architect. It's slated for completion in 2018.

He bought the third biggest yacht in the world for $500 million.

Alwaleed's old yacht, the New Kingdom 5KR Yacht , was 282 feet long, and appeared in the Bond movie "Never Say Never Again." The boat has a disco, cinema, helipad, pool, guest rooms, and more.

But Alwaleed reportedly  commissioned a new yacht double the size at 557 feet, making it the third biggest yacht in the world. It will cost a reported $500 million, but there's still no word on when it will be completed.

He owns a lot of expensive cars, too.

His collection includes a Rolls Royce Phantom, which retails just under $500,000 , a $48 million diamond-encrusted Mercedes Benz SL 600 , and several other Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

He bought (and then sold) an Airbus 380 plane.

The plane was reportedly tricked out with three floors, a Turkish bath, a "concert hall" with seating for 10, a boardroom with holographic projectors, and a garage for his Rolls Royce. The aircraft cost an estimated $500 million.

Alwaleed recently sold the plane to a private buyer for an undisclosed price, with proceeds going toward his investments in Saudi Arabia and the greater Middle East, according to his spokesperson.

But he still owns his Boeing 747.

Alwaleed owns a $220 million Boeing 747 with a throne, two bedrooms, and a 14-seat dining table with 11 flight attendants from around the world.

He was once sued over the commission of the sale of yet another plane to former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, and ordered to pay $120 million, according to Bloomberg .

He lives in a 420-room palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Alwaleed's palace is made with high-quality marble and hung with large portraits and photographs of himself, according to Forbes.

It also has two indoor pools and an outdoor tennis court.

He also owns a huge farm/resort on the outskirts of the city.

The Farm reportedly has over 120 acres , and has a miniature version of the Grand Canyon, a mini-zoo, horse stables, and five artificial lakes.

Alwaleed is a big game hunter.

He often goes on hunting expeditions, and shoots game that are typically illegal to hunt . His prized animal is a stuffed zebra that he killed with his daughter , reports Forbes.

His palace is filled with the taxidermied animals that are put on display for guests to admire.

He has hired little people to act like his "court jesters."

Business Insider's Nicholas Carlson reports : "Almost every source we spoke to, including Alwaleed's official spokesperson, confirmed that, like a medieval monarch, Alwaleed keeps in his entourage a group of dancing, laughing, joking dwarfs."

The sources continued that even though they were initially shocked, in Saudi culture it would be considered charity since the little people would most likely be out of work and considered "freaks" in the country.

But it's not all about the toys: Alwaleed also donates heavily to charities.

It is common for Alwaleed to make donations to petitioners , as well as to numerous charities and causes through the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation ( even if it might just be for publicity ). 

He has given to those affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami , as well as to universities like Harvard and Cambridge .

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‘I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep

FILE - This is a July 4, 1988 file photo of Donald Trump’s yacht, the Trump Princess, in New York City. In 1991, as Trump was teetering on personal bankruptcy and scrambling to raise cash, he sold his 282-foot Trump Princess yacht to Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for $20 million, a third less than what he had reportedly paid for it. Donald Trump’s business ties to Saudi Arabia run long and deep, and he’s often boasted about his business ties with the kingdom. Now those ties are under scrutiny as the president faces calls for a tougher response to the kingdom’s government following the disappearance, and possible killing, of one of its biggest critics, journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump said Friday that he will soon speak with Saudi Arabia’s king about Khashoggi’s disappearance. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

In this Oct. 10, 2018 photo, Trump World Tower, right, rises above the United Nations headquarters, left, in New York. In 2001, Donald Trump’s business ties to Saudi Arabia run long and deep, and he’s often boasted about his business ties with the kingdom. Now those ties are under scrutiny as the president faces calls for a tougher response to the kingdom’s government following the disappearance, and possible killing, of one of its biggest critics, journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump said Friday that he will soon speak with Saudi Arabia’s king about Khashoggi’s disappearance. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

In this Oct. 10, 2018 photo, Trump World Tower, right, rises above the United Nations headquarters, center, in New York. Donald Trump’s business ties to Saudi Arabia run long and deep, and he’s often boasted about his business ties with the kingdom. Now those ties are under scrutiny as the president faces calls for a tougher response to the kingdom’s government following the disappearance, and possible killing, of one of its biggest critics, journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump said Friday that he will soon speak with Saudi Arabia’s king about Khashoggi’s disappearance. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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NEW YORK (AP) — He’s booked hotel rooms and meeting spaces to them, sold an entire floor in one of his buildings to them and, in desperate moments in his career, gotten a billionaire from the country to buy his yacht and New York’s Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park.

President Donald Trump’s ties to Saudi Arabia run long and deep, and he’s often boasted about his business ties with the kingdom.

“I love the Saudis,” Trump said when announcing his presidential run at Trump Tower in 2015. “Many are in this building.”

Now those ties are under scrutiny as the president faces calls for a tougher response to the kingdom’s government following the disappearance, and possible killing, of one of its biggest critics, journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The Saudis are funneling money to him,” said former federal ethics chief Walter Shaub, who is advising a watchdog group suing Trump for foreign government ties to his business. That undermines “confidence that he’s going to do the right thing when it comes to Khashoggi.”

Trump paid his first foreign visit as president to Saudi Arabia last year, praised its new young ruler and boasted of striking a deal to sell $110 billion of U.S. weapons to the kingdom.

But those close ties are in peril as pressure mounts from Congress for the president to find out whether Khashoggi was killed and dismembered after entering a Saudi consulate in Turkey, as Turkish officials have said without proof.

Trump said Friday that he will soon speak with Saudi Arabia’s king about Khashoggi’s disappearance. But he also has said he doesn’t want to scuttle a lucrative arms deal with the kingdom and noted that Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, is not a citizen. For its part, Saudi Arabia has called allegations it killed Khashoggi “baseless.”

The president’s links to Saudi billionaires and princes go back years, and appear to have only deepened.

In 1991, as Trump was teetering on personal bankruptcy and scrambling to raise cash, he sold his 282-foot Trump yacht “Princess” to Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for $20 million, a third less than what he reportedly paid for it.

Four years later, the prince came to his rescue again, joining other investors in a $325 million deal for Trump’s money-losing Plaza Hotel.

In 2001, Trump sold the entire 45th floor of the Trump World Tower across from the United Nations in New York for $12 million, the biggest purchase in that building to that point, according to the brokerage site Streeteasy. The buyer: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Shortly after he announced his run for president, Trump began laying the groundwork for possible new business in the kingdom. He registered eight companies with names tied to the country, such as “THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC” and “DT Jeddah Technical Services,” according to a 2016 financial disclosure report to the federal government. Jeddah is a major city in the country.

“Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million,” Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally on Aug. 21, 2015, the same day he created four of the entities. “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

The president’s company, the Trump Organization, said shortly after his 2016 election that it had shut down those Saudi companies. The president later pledged to pursue no new foreign deals while in office.

In a statement this week, the company said it has explored business opportunities in many countries but that it does “not have any plans for expansion into Saudi Arabia.”

Since Trump took the oath of office, the Saudi government and lobbying groups for it have been lucrative customers for Trump’s hotels.

A public relations firm working for the kingdom spent nearly $270,000 on lodging and catering at his Washington hotel near the Oval Office through March of last year, according to filings to the Justice Department. A spokesman for the firm told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump hotel payments came as part of a Saudi-backed lobbying campaign against a bill that allowed Americans to sue foreign governments for responsibility in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia cited the payments by the Saudi lobbying firm as an example of foreign gifts to the president that could violate the Constitution’s ban on such “emoluments” from foreign interests.

The Saudi government was also a prime customer at the Trump International Hotel in New York early this year, according to a Washington Post report.

The newspaper cited an internal letter from the hotel’s general manager, who wrote that a “last-minute” visit in March by a group from Saudi Arabia accompanying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had boosted room rentals at the hotel by 13 percent for the first three months of the year, after two years of decline.

Saudi Arabia has also helped on one of Trump’s key policy promises, and helped the president’s friends along the way.

Last year, the kingdom announced plans to invest $20 billion in a private U.S.-focused infrastructure fund managed by Blackstone Group, an investment firm led by CEO Stephen Schwarzman. Blackstone stock rose on the news. Earlier this year, Trump unveiled a $200 billion federal plan to fix the nation’s airports, roads, highways and ports, tapping private companies for help and selling off some government owned infrastructure.

Schwarzman, who celebrated his 70th birthday at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, accompanied Trump on his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Exclusive - Detained Saudi billionaire Alwaleed confident his troubles will end soon

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Reporting by Katie Paul; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Tom Hogue

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Who is Alwaleed bin Talal, the prince at the centre of the Saudi corruption purge?

RIYADH (WASHINGTON POST) - Even if you didn't know much about Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal before his arrest on Saturday - in what was either an anti-corruption purge or a political crackdown - you're almost certainly acquainted with his money.

The biography on Alwaleed's personal website consists of a single sentence about his background (born 1955; grandson of the first king of Saudi Arabia), followed by a dense page crammed with details of his wealth and power: Holdings in Twitter, Lyft, Euro Disney and Twentieth Century Fox; luxury hotels across the world; a tower under construction in Saudi Arabia that will soon be the world's tallest building. Or his opulent palace, where Business Insider once reported the prince kept "a group of dancing, laughing, joking dwarfs" in his entourage, occasionally tossing them around as sport like human shot putts.

That last part isn't in the official biography. And it would be a shame if all you knew about Alwaleed was his wealth, because the personality behind those billions of dollars sounds no less extraordinary.

It's true that Alwaleed descends from King Abdulaziz al-Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia whose family has controlled it ever since. But the website biography doesn't mention what Vanity Fair will tell you: that Alwaleed's father rebelled against the repressive monarchy in the 1960s and forever after damaged his line's chances of inheriting the throne.

Though that hasn't stopped Alwaleed from hinting that he might one day sit on it.

Vanity Fair's profile also retells - with some scepticism - the official story of how Alwaleed amassed his immense fortune.

It reads like a fairy tale.

The prince was about 30, having returned from Menlo College in California with a business degree in 1985. "Alwaleed claims his father gave him US$30,000 (S$40,944). Within a year, he had lost the money. He went back to his father, who gave him US$300,000. This time, it took him three years to lose it." Third time was the charm. Alwaleed's father gave him the deed to a house instead of cash, and told him "work for yourself". So he took a loan out on the deed, and with some shrewd investments (and his royal stipend, and the proceeds from hawking a US$200,000 heirloom), the prince learned to become a self-made man.

Others have speculated that his fortune owes more to the royal family's control of Saudi Arabia's oil, Vanity Fair wrote - or even that Alwaleed is "a frontman for the vast wealth of the Saudi royal family". In any event, the prince surged to the top of the billionaires list in early 1990s, not for any enterprise inside his family's kingdom, but by investing in a then-struggling US bank, now known as Citicorp.

From that point on, Alwaleed was a prince without borders. He worked with Stephen Bannon in the late 1990s. He sold a yacht to Donald Trump. At 62, The Associated Press reported, he's now one of the major shareholders in Apple, News Corporation and Twitter.

But we're getting sidetracked by dollars signs again. In our defence, they suffuse almost every anecdote about the prince's personality, and his hard-to-pin-down politics.

Alwaleed donated US$10 million to help New York after the terrorist attacks on Sep 11, 2001, Business Insider reported, for example. But Mayor Rudolph Giuliani turned the money down after the prince issued a news release criticising the US position on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

He's always been a press-happy prince. (Or occasionally press-cranky, as when Alwaleed sued Forbes for defamation, claiming the magazine had underestimated his wealth at a mere US$20 billion.) Seated in a recliner in shaded glasses at night, Business Insider reported, Alwaleed held forth to CNBC on the banking crisis in 2008. The same year, according to Forbes, he put on a ceremonial Saudi robe and took his personal Boeing 747 to the city of Jeddah. There he pitched his uncle, King Abdullah, on his plan to built a skyscraper more than a kilometre tall. "It will be the epicentre of Jiddah," the prince told Forbes. "It will be a magnet." The tower is slated to open in 2019. About midway through its construction, Business Insider ran an expose on Alwaleed's lifestyle at his headquarters in the capital of Riyadh. "Almost every source we spoke to, including Alwaleed's official spokesperson, confirmed that, like a medieval monarch, Alwaleed keeps in his entourage a group of dancing, laughing, joking dwarfs," the outlet reported in 2012. "One source called them 'jesters'. "

Not only did the prince hold occasional "midget-tossing" contests with these people, Business Insider wrote, but once invited his "jesters" to a business meeting, where he taught them the words "Boeing" and "Airbus", and had them decide which type of plane he should add to his personal fleet.

In the face of bizarre accusations like this, Alwaleed has made great demonstrations of his concern for human rights - especially among the poor and women. "Can you believe this? It's horrible," he told Forbes while handing out cash-stuffed envelopes in a Riyadh slum. The same article noted that women who work for Alwaleed's offices are discouraged from wearing the veils they're forced to wear in public.

The prince wrote an op-ed for the New York Times during the "Arab Spring" revolutions, condemning autocratic Arab nations led by those who "serve special and self-serving interests," and embracing his father's criticism of Saudi Arabia's autocracy.

And two years ago, following in the footsteps of Western billionaires like Bill Gates, Alwaleed promised to give away his entire US$30-some billion fortune in the indefinite future - "to build a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world," he told reporters.

And the prince was among many global leaders to condemn Donald Trump early in his run for president, and attempt reconciliation after the election.

As The Washington Post previously wrote, some have suggested that Alwaleed is essentially running a PR campaign for his western business holdings.

Others wonder if he has designs on the Saudi throne. That's one theory for why Saudia Arabia's crown prince - Alwaleed's cousin - had him and 10 other princes arrested on Saturday to face a "royal anti-corruption" committee, amid rumours that the king is preparing to step down.

Power in Saudi Arabia has long passed between the sons of the founding king, Forbes wrote in 2009. But the line of succession has become complicated as that generation nears the end of its life span.

Could the globe-trotting, billionaire son of a dissident one day take the throne? "Sure," Alwaleed told Forbes. "The chain of command of people who could become king in this country is between the sons and the grandsons of King Abdulaziz. I am among them." Others doubted his chances. "Alwaleed is the Donald Trump of Saudi Arabia," an expert on the Saudi royal house told Forbes that year."He may be a symbol of success for some Saudis, but many others view him as being way too gaudy." But that was many years ago. Donald Trump is president of the United States now, and who knows what's in store for Alwaleed?

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Saudi Prince Rebuts Claim of Rape in Spain

By Raphael Minder

• Sept. 20, 2011

MADRID — The office of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a billionaire investor and nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, released documents to rebut an accusation that the prince raped a Spanish woman on a luxury yacht off the Mediterranean island of Ibiza three years ago.

The documents include a full travel agenda, passport visa stamps and witness statements about the prince’s whereabouts, all of which indicate that the prince was not in Ibiza in August 2008, when a 20-year-old model filed a police complaint accusing him of rape.

The case was closed in July 2010 by an Ibiza judge for lack of evidence, but that decision was appealed to a Spanish provincial court for the Balearic Islands, which include Ibiza. The provincial court ordered the Ibiza judge, Carmen Martín Montero, to resume the case and to summon the prince to appear.

The accuser, who has been identified only by her middle name, Soraya, said she was drugged at an Ibiza nightclub and then taken to the yacht and raped there. Traces of semen were collected when the woman went to the police. One of the woman’s lawyers, Javier Beloqui, said on Tuesday that “instead of documents, the prince should simply provide a DNA sample if he wants to close this matter,” so that it could be compared with the semen samples.

A spokeswoman for Prince Alwaleed’s company said last week that the accusations against him were “completely and utterly false.” She said the prince did not charter a yacht in Ibiza, or take his own yacht there, at the time when the model said she was assaulted.

“Neither the prince nor his lawyers have ever been contacted by the court in Spain,” the spokeswoman said on Tuesday in an e-mail. “However, we have widely disseminated this documentation into the public record, and certainly expect that Spanish authorities now have full access to these materials.”

Prince Alwaleed is the largest individual stakeholder in Citigroup and, among his other major holdings, is the second-largest investor in the News Corporation. Forbes valued his fortune this year at $19.4 billion, making him the 26th richest man in the world and the richest in the Arab world.

What Is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud's Net Worth?

Alwaleed bin talal al saud's net worth.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a prominent Saudi Arabian investor and a royal family member, has a net worth of $17 billion. He is the founder, chief executive officer, and a 95 percent stakeholder of the Kingdom Holding Company. His holdings span private and public enterprises across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. He was listed in the 'Top 100 Most Powerful Arabs' from 2013 to 2021 by Gulf Business.

What are Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud's sources of income?

Prince Alwaleed's wealth primarily stems from his ownership and leadership role in the Kingdom Holding Company. This conglomerate has investments in diverse sectors, including banking, financial services, hotels, media, entertainment, retail, agriculture, petrochemicals, aviation, technology, and real estate. Moreover, he has earned substantial income through strategic investments in companies like Citigroup, News Corporation, and Twitter.

Business Ventures

After completing his bachelor's degree in 1980, Prince Alwaleed founded Kingdom Establishment. In 1982, he partnered with a South Korean construction company, enabling investments in real estate and the stock market. Over the years, he strategically acquired United Saudi Commercial Bank, which later became a leading Middle Eastern bank after mergers. By 1989, Prince Alwaleed had become a billionaire.

Later, he purchased a 50 percent controlling interest in the Fairmont Hotel group, a 22 percent stake in the Four Seasons, a 42 percent share in the Plaza Hotel, and the George V Hotel. He invested in media and technology companies, becoming the largest shareholder in Apple Inc.

Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud's assets

With an impressive 420-room palace, multiple residences, and ownership of the top three floors of the iconic Kingdom Tower, Prince Alwaleed's real estate holdings alone surpass $4.5 billion. In 1991, Prince Alwaleed acquired Donald Trump's yacht, the 85.9-meter Kingdom 5KR.

He also owns a fleet of private aircraft, including a Boeing 747, Airbus A321, and a converted Hawker Siddeley 125. He had also purchased an 80.5 percent stake in the television broadcaster Rotana, valued at over a billion dollars. Furthermore, he owns more than 30 million shares in Twitter.

Alwaleed bin Talal's personal life

Born into the Saudi royal family on March 7, 1955, Prince Alwaleed attended schools in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Menlo College in 1979 and a master's degree in social science from Syracuse University in 1985.

In 2017, he, along with over 300 influential Saudis, was arrested on charges of bribery, money laundering, and extortion, leading to an 84-day detention at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh. He was released after a substantial financial settlement, rumored to exceed $1 billion.

What is Prince Alwaleed's net worth?

Al Waleed has an estimated net worth of $17 billion.

How did Prince Alwaleed accumulate his wealth?

Prince Alwaleed's wealth comes from his ownership of the Kingdom Holding Company, strategic investments, and successful business ventures in various sectors.

What legal issues did Prince Alwaleed face?

Prince Alwaleed faced arrest and detention in 2017 on charges of bribery, money laundering, and extortion. He was released after reaching a financial settlement.

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His Profile

The man behind one of the world’s most successful international holding companies, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), has been named twice by Forbes magazine as one of the smartest and most creative investors in the world. Such a portrayal encapsulates the remarkable achievements of His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, founder and chairman of one of the world’s most successful and diversified financial investment enterprises.

Prince Alwaleed was born in 1955, He is the grandson of two remarkable, and in some ways legendary, historical leaders, King Abdulaziz Al Saud, founder and first ruler of Saudi Arabia, and Riad El Solh, an iconic statesman in Lebanon’s drive for independence and its first Prime Minister.

The uncommon achievements of those two personages must have loomed large in shaping Prince Alwaleed’s propensity towards excellence, as became evident in his school years.

I have a very good relationship with the East and the West and I'm going to use this to bridge the gap between both sides

He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Menlo College in California in l979, and his Masters in Social Sciences with Honors from Syracuse University in New York in 1985.

In recognition of his business and civic accomplishments, Prince Alwaleed has been the recipient of numerous honors and accolades from many organizations, societies, monarchs and heads of state. These include 27 Honorary Doctorates from universities in the U.S., Britain, Korea, Egypt, Malaysia, Ghana, Palestine, Philippines, Tunisia, Uganda, Indonesia, Hungary, Jordan, Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Spain, Bulgaria, and Madagascar.

The citations accompanying these honors particularly point to his financial contributions to education, international understanding, coexistence, and to the provision of assistance to the victims of natural disasters, as well as to the poor and needy, irrespective of nationality, race or creed.

Saudi Prince Al Waleed Invests In Four Seasons Resort In Red Sea Project

Josh Corder , Skift

October 25th, 2023 at 9:51 AM EDT

Saudi's Prince Al Waleed has invested in - or bought - some of the world's most famous hotels, including The Plaza in New York and Four Seasons in Paris. Now, he's adding hotels in his own country.

Josh Corder

Saudi billionaire and royal family member Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud has snapped up a 50% stake in the upcoming Four Seasons resort in the ultra-luxurious Red Sea project in Saudi Arabia for $266 million, according to a release from Red Sea Global.

It marks the first time Al Saud has added a hotel in his own country to his portfolio of five-star properties.

His firm, the Kingdom Holding Company, owns the world-famous Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris, has a majority stake in The Savoy in London, and used to own one of New York’s best-known old-money hotels: The Plaza .

What the upcoming Four Seasons Resort Red Sea lacks in heritage compared to his other properties, it makes up for in luxury. Expected to open in two years’ time, it will have 149 rooms and suites, plus 31 residential properties, as well as six restaurants and “lounge outlets.” It will also have meeting and events spaces, a marine discovery center, and a kids area. 

Kingdom Holding’s investment is in partnership with the project’s master developers, Red Sea Global. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund owns nearly 17% of Kingdom Holding, with Prince Al Waleed holding more than 78%.

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