Best & Worst: Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, Buffett of Mideast -- but not as lovable

Posted Dec 8th 2006 6:00PM by Trey Thoelcke
Filed under: Best and Worst 2006

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. You can vote for Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal to lose all his money, or see the other nominees in this category.

Called by Time magazine the "Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia," Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is a member of the Saudi royal family, as well as a Lebanese citizen through his mother. Though he is the nephew of Saudi King Abdullah, he is not in line to rule Saudi Arabia and has largely stayed out of politics. He is an entrepreneur and international investor with a net worth estimated in 2006 at $20 billion, and he is ranked as the eighth richest person in the world by Forbes.

He has made large investments, through his Kingdom Holding Company, in Citicorp (NYSE:C), AOL (NYSE:TWX), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and other technology and media companies. His real estate holdings have included stakes in the Four Seasons hotel chain, the Plaza Hotel in New York, the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel in Monaco, and Euro Disney. In 2005 he purchased the Savoy Hotel in London for £250 million.

In 2001 Prince Al-Waleed's donation of $10 million dollars to New York City in the wake of the September 11 World Trade Center attack was rebuffed by Mayor Giuliani. In 2005 he donated $20 million to the Louvre for the construction of a wing to house the museum's vast collection of Islamic art, and another $20 million to Harvard and Georgetown Universities for Islamic studies programs. He has also donated to centers for American studies at universities in the Middle East, such as the American University in Cairo. He is believed to donate more than $100 million annually to charities throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Tags: Al-Waleed bin Talal, American University, Forbes magazine, Georgetown University, Harvard, King Abdullah, Kingdom Holding Company, Louvre, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, PrinceAl-waleedBinTalal, Rudy Giuliani, Saudi Arabia, Savoy Hotel, Time magazine, Warren Buffett, World Trade Center

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

1-01-2007 @ 11:58PM

rose said...

The prince is a great example of power and integrity. And thank god he is not ignorant like many people in the united states that we have in goverment. At least he believes in helping humanity no matter what ethnicity. Un like some people in the u.s prefer to desroy nations then help build them.

12-28-2006 @ 1:57PM

Mariam said...

Wow. I've been born and raised in the US as a practicing Muslim. After the 9-11 attacks, only we Muslims know how much ignorance, prejudice, and judgement we had to face. I am extremely sympathetic to the attacks that were made, however, I did not attack the WTC. Why is it that, the entire Muslim community be held responsible for how a handful of terrorist decided to end their lives? Just because the Prince wears a red and white headress he is automatically cruicified for having wealth? He earned his money as a smart business man, not by stealing from the poor. He is even donating it to the needy, just like Islam teaches. Maybe all of those who actually voted for the Prince to take the "fall" might want to brush up on your religion and learn that Islam is a religion of peace and tranquility and not much different than Christianity and Judaism. Just because Timothy McVeigh decided to bomb the building in Oklahoma city, I did not automatically despise every single caucasian that walked past me. Maybe if you pick up a book and read instead of "casting votes" on websites on who should fall or lose their money, your opinions might modify. I continue to pray for all of the ignorant people that live among us today. May God be with you Always. Ameen.

12-30-2006 @ 6:27PM

sam said...

Clearly the prince is judged because he is an arab, imagine a prince of his status from England, it would be a diffrent story all together.

1-01-2007 @ 12:38PM

shaymae said...

allah yihmik stay as you are kind lovable prince hansome class god bless u

1-31-2007 @ 3:23PM

angela said...

All of the middle east is so beautiful and has such a super climate, why do the people of Saudi Arabia not capitalise on this, to provide employment for ordinary moslem people, they have a country with such promice, and such history, .