Every reporter who takes an interest in Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal can hope to one day receive a small gift from His Highness. The driver will bring a bulky green leather bag with the logo and name of al-Walid's Kingdom Holding company, which weighs at least 4.5 kilograms. Like a nesting doll, the green leather bag contains a green leather bundle, which in turn contains an annual report bound in green leather. The only thing not wrapped in leather is a dozen of the world's most famous magazines, each with a photograph of the prince on the cover.

These magazines are the most telling item in an expensive pile of information. On the cover of Vanity Fair, he appears as a typical member of high society: in mirrored glasses, a pale blue sports jacket and an open-necked shirt. He can be seen on the covers of two Time 100 issues: once in a collage alongside the likes of George Soros, Li Ka-shing and Queen Rania, and once alone, dressed in the traditional Saudi tawb and ghutra. There's even Forbes, on the cover of which he, dressed in a Steve Jobs-style turtleneck, gazes imperiously at the reader, and the caption reads: "The world's most astute businessman." But one important detail does not change: all the magazines are not real. Instead of simply sending out newspaper clippings, the prince's staff made from scratch or edited magazine covers and mounted them on top of articles that mentioned the prince, printed on fine glossy paper.

For Prince al-Waleed, image is everything, with particular emphasis placed on those who can provide further proof of his status. He meets very important people. Ask him yourself. It's like his staff prepares a press release with a photo every time he meets someone significant (Bill Gates), someone who might one day become significant (Twitter CEO Dick Costolo), or someone who seems significant (Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Saudi Arabia).

In 2003, he was photographed standing behind George W. Bush, King Abdullah of Jordan, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. When his authorized biography, Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince, was published in 2005, this photograph was featured on the back cover, this time with Alwaleed in the foreground thanks, as the prince later admitted in a conversation with Forbes, to Photoshop. For several months, starting in the second half of 2011, the prince even began to blind carbon copy me almost daily or send me his messages: some were addressed to the wife of the president of a European country, others to a well-known top manager of a large technology company in the United States, some to leading talk shows on cable channels. The content was conveyed under confidentiality conditions, but the desire to make an impression was quite obvious.

But in terms of external validation, his first priority, according to seven people who used to work for him, is the Forbes billionaires list.

"He wants the world to measure his success or his position in society through this list," says one of the prince's former aides, who, like most of his former colleagues, preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the Arab world's richest man. “This is extremely important to him.” Former employees say the palace officially sets goals such as placing in the top ten or twenty.

However, for several years now, al-Waleed's former managers have been telling me that the prince, although indeed one of the richest people in the world, systematically exaggerates his wealth by several billion dollars. This prompted Forbes to take a closer look at the prince's holdings and come to the following conclusion: at times it seems as if he is taking the valuation of his holdings from another reality, including in relation to Kingdom Holding, whose shares are traded on the stock exchange. Their price falls and rises according to factors that, oddly enough, have more to do with the Forbes billionaire list than economic fundamentals.

Al-Waleed, 58, declined to speak to Forbes for this story, but his chief financial officer, Shadi Sanbar, was emphatic: “I would never have thought that Forbes would stoop to cheap sensation and rumor.” The discrepancies we've noticed about the Prince's wealth say a lot about him and how to determine the true extent of someone's wealth.

Luxury and persistence

The prince first came to Forbes' attention in 1988, a year after our first billionaires issue. The source is the prince himself, who contacted a Forbes journalist to talk about the success of his company Kingdom Holding for Trading & Contracting - and make it clear that he should be included in the next list.

This message marked the beginning of a series of persuasion and threats that have been going on for a quarter of a century and related to the prince’s position on the list. Of the 1,426 billionaires on the list, not a single one - not even the vain Donald Trump - made much effort to influence their ranking. In 2006, when Forbes concluded that the prince was actually worth $7 billion less than he claimed, he called me at home the day after the list came out and seemed almost in tears.

"What do you want? - he pleaded, referring to his personal banker in Switzerland. “Tell me what you need.”

A few years ago, he had Kingdom Holding's chief financial officer fly to New York from Riyadh to make sure Forbes was using the numbers he was reporting. The financial director and his companion refused to leave the editorial office until they received guarantees (after a detailed discussion, the editor convinced them to leave, promising to double-check everything). In 2008, at the prince's request, I spent a week with him in Riyadh, where I toured his palaces, planes and jewelry, which he said was worth $700 million.

Keeping up with Prince al-Waleed, as I learned during my week with him, requires stamina—and a lot of caffeine. He regularly goes to bed no earlier than 4:30 in the morning, sleeps for 4-5 hours, and then everything repeats. “Those who worked with the prince had no life,” recalls a former employee. “The working hours were extremely strange: from 11:00 to 17:00, and then from 21:00 to 2:00.” Even his wife of twenty-something years, Amira al-Tawil, must adapt to this schedule (she is his fourth wife; the prince has always been married to only one woman at a time). While I was there, a driver drove her every evening in a dark blue Mini Cooper to her own palace.

Every day he is surrounded by unimaginable luxury. His main palace in Riyadh has 420 rooms: marble, swimming pools and his portraits.

If the prince needs to go on a business trip, he has his own Boeing 747, like Air Force One, but unlike the president's plane, there is a throne. When al-Waleed wants to slow down, he heads to his “resort,” located on 120 acres of land on the outskirts of Riyadh. There are five artificial lakes, a small zoo, a scaled-down replica of the Grand Canyon, five houses and several verandas where his entourage dine.

This dinner is very important for al-Walid. To stay in shape, he eats one large meal a day, around 8 p.m., although given his biological rhythms, he calls it "lunch." On one side of him are the “palace ladies” who manage the house where the prince is at the moment, and on the other are the male servants. As a rule, all eyes in this semicircle are directed at the TV. And just in case anyone forgets the prince's spotlight, CNBC is usually on.

Call of blood

This desire for success, albeit in a veiled form, was inherited by him. If ever anyone felt obligated to succeed, it is Prince al-Waleed, grandson of the founders of two independent countries. His maternal grandfather was the first Prime Minister of Libya. His paternal grandfather, King Abdulaziz, created Saudi Arabia. “So he found himself in a position where he needed to prove his superiority in something,” says Saleh al-Fadl, a manager at Saudi Hollandi Bank who worked with the prince at his United Saudi Commercial Bank for several years from 1989. While his royal cousins ​​are involved in Saudi Arabia's political life - one serves as interior minister, others serve as governors - al-Waleed, al-Fadl said, "wants to make a name for himself in the business world."

Al-Walid's father, Prince Talal, had a penchant for entrepreneurship and attempted reforms as finance minister in the early 1960s until he was ousted for his progressive views. During the same period, when al-Walid was seven years old, he divorced his wife, the daughter of Libya's first prime minister, who returned to her homeland with the young prince. There, according to his authorized biography, he developed a habit of sneaking out of the house for a day or two and sleeping in unlocked cars. Al-Walid later attended a military school in Riyadh and still adheres to the strict discipline he learned then.

Prince acquired a Western mentality while attending Menlo College in Atherton, California. Upon his return to Saudi Arabia, he became known as the go-to guy for foreign companies if they needed a local partner. When he talks about the beginning of his career, he usually explains that he received a gift from his father of $30,000, a $300,000 loan and a house. Although even his biography does not make it clear how much more he received from family members, it was probably a lot, since by the age of 36 (in 1991) he was in a position to make life-changing decisions in business.

While regulators were forcing Citicorp to increase its capital base in the face of bad loans in developing countries, al-Waleed, then unknown to anyone outside Saudi Arabia, amassed a stake worth $800 million. This enormous bet grew during two Wall Street booms and by 2005 was already worth $10 billion, which at that time made al-Waleed one of the 10 richest people in the world and earned him the nickname, the popularity of which he contributed to, “The Buffett of Saudi Arabia.”

But unlike Warren Buffett, who spent decades picking winners, al-Waleed has not proven himself to be a consistent investor.

Over the past 20 years, he has backed losers like Eastman Kodak and TWA. Major media investments (Time Warner and News Corp.) did not live up to expectations. And although he had some successes, notably eBay and Apple, al-Waleed missed another chance when he sold most of the latter's shares in 2005. In other words, he has yet to replicate his success with his Citi investment. “It was his biggest deal and it brought him into the limelight. It was a big risk, a big sum, a big bank,” a manager formerly close to al-Walid told Forbes. “He hasn’t done anything close to comparable since then.”

Yet in al-Walid's hyperbolic world, everything is clear. On the home page of the Kingdom Holding website there are four words in large font: “The world's best investor.”

When the prince decided to take Kingdom Holding public in July 2007, the decision looked strange on paper. Although the CFO makes the usual arguments for publicity, the prince already owned 100% of the company. It consisted of holdings whose shares were already listed on the stock exchange, and a pitiful 5% were in free float. In other words, he had no partners whose interests should be taken into account, there were no problems with liquidity and no desire to raise large capital - the three main reasons for carrying out an IPO and putting up with all the attendant difficulties. Shares listed on the Saudi stock exchange are trading thinly. Not a single analyst specifically monitors them. Inside the company, the mood is similar to the mood of the glossy magazines produced by employees. "It was just fun," says al-Waleed's longtime collaborator. - It was fun to go to the stock exchange. There's a buzz in the media."

How much money does the prince have?

Of course, media hype is only "fun" when the stock is trading well. The Prince, who, as always, was concerned about his image, had no doubt that this would be the case. “I'm glad the IPO is going well,” he told Arab News on the day the flotation took place. “This means the Saudis recognize the potential of the No. 1 company in the kingdom.” Never mind that oil giant Saudi Aramco has flooded the economy with money and supported legions of royals for decades. “He sets out to become a rich man and a public figure, and he has achieved that,” says Al-Fadl of Saudi Hollandi Bank. “It will be much more difficult to maintain status.”

These words were confirmed shortly after the IPO. At the time of the offering, when Kingdom was valued at $17 billion, most of the company consisted of Citi shares, worth almost $9.2 billion. But the summer of 2007 marked the beginning of a long and precipitous decline that was accelerated by the onset of the global financial crisis. Since July 2007, Citi's share price has dropped nearly 90%. Kingdom Holding shares fell between early 2008 and early 2009, losing 60%. As a result, the prince’s fortune decreased by $8 billion and at the time of the release of the Forbes list of billionaires for 2009 reached only $13.3 billion.

But then, in early 2010, Kingdom Holding's shares magically took off, with their price up 57% in the 10 weeks leading up to the February day Forbes completes its list of billionaires, while Citigroup's shares fell 20%. The prince rose sharply in the Forbes ranking to 19th place ($19.4 billion).

In 2011, the situation repeated itself. In the 10 weeks before Forbes completed the list, Kingdom Holding's shares were up 31%, while the Saudi Arabian stock exchange index was up 3% and the S&P 500 was up 9%. (That year, Prince al-Waleed was ranked 26th in the world, with an estimated fortune of $19.6 billion.) The same thing happened in 2012, when Kingdom shares rose 56% in the 10 weeks to mid-February, while the Saudi market was up just 11% and the S&P 500 was up 9%. This time, al-Waleed took 29th place, with a fortune of $18 billion, after Forbes did not take into account his claims to many assets not owned by Kingdom Holding.

At the same time, several former managers close to al-Walid began telling Forbes the same story: the prince used his political weight to inflate his fortune.

Their evidence was based on close observation of stocks rather than direct evidence. But one manager said he could find no other explanation for the fact that the share price was rising sharply at the same time as a key asset, a significant stake in Citi, was falling.

"It's a national sport," says one of al-Waleed's early managers, offering his own explanation for the market's sudden swings. - There are few players. They come with significant funds and buy from each other. There are no casinos in the country. This is a gambling house for the Saudis." This is also said by an analyst who watches Saudi Arabia, but chose to remain anonymous because his remarks could damage his business connections: “This market is extremely easy to manipulate,” and even easier if you, like Kingdom Holding, “ there are few shares in free float.” CFO Sanbar responds: “No one can provide a rational explanation for short-term changes in stock prices or market trends.”

Whatever the driving force, last year was a record year. In 2012, Kingdom Holding's net income grew by only 10.5% to $188 million, the Saudi Arabian stock exchange index rose 6% and the S&P index rose 13%, but Kingdom's share price jumped 136%. Sanbar refers to "the market's confidence that the company can deliver on its promises over time and deliver significant returns to shareholders."

Currently, Kingdom Holding's capitalization is 107 times its revenue - this does not fit into the value strategy that the prince uses as an investor. There are examples of such valuation: Amazon's market capitalization is 224 times its 2012 pre-tax revenue. Sanbar also points out that Tadawul had many other securities whose price increased by more than 130% in 2012.

The problem with Kingdom is the discrepancy between the share price and the actual assets or economic fundamentals.

One-fifth of Kingdom's net assets are financially invested in the stock, which trades at 82% below its holding. And it hardly makes sense for investors to invest in the rest, because it is almost impossible to find out what the company owns. When the company went public, it issued a detailed 240-page prospectus listing shares in 21 companies, including mostly U.S. firms such as News Corp., Apple and Citi, as well as stakes in various hotels and real estate properties in Saudi Arabia.

But while the prince's press office issues almost daily releases about those he meets, annual reports and financial filings in recent years lack the names of the shares or holdings the company currently holds, and do not even mention the 7% voting shares in News Corp. . We know about this acquisition from documents that News Corp. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ernst & Young, Kingdom's auditors, also raised concerns about the discrepancy between price and assets. In 2009 and 2010, they signed annual reports, but both times noted a large difference between the market valuation of the shares and the valuation given by the holding. The difference was so great, auditors noted, that the prince invested 180 million of his own Citi shares, worth $600 million, at no cost to Kingdom, simply to avoid having to lower the share price. In other words, the prince was transferring private assets that he owned 100% to a public company where he only owned 95%, free of charge, in order to improve reporting and possibly market performance. What did Ernst & Young say in 2011? Nothing. They were replaced by Pricewaterhousecoopers at the annual meeting in March this year.

Sunbar told Forbes that no shares have been traded since 2008, but we don't know what shares were traded (if any) between July 2007 and the end of 2008. In January 2012, Kingdom published a press release claiming that it had invested $300 million in Twitter: half of the funds came from Kingdom Holding, half from the prince's personal funds. Sunbar confirmed that ownership stakes in Apple, eBay, PepsiCo, Priceline, Procter & Gamble and several other companies have not changed. But as an investor in Kingdom, you wouldn't know that from the annual report. A note to the 2012 financial statements lists $2.1 billion in private assets that were not audited and states in one sentence: "The Equity segment's operations are concentrated in the United States and the Middle East." This minimum level of disclosure "certainly wouldn't pass a common-sense test in the United States," says Jack Sisilsky, publisher of The Analyst's Observer newsletter.

Sanbar's response? “We are not a mutual fund, and there is no regulation that we have to disclose the composition of our portfolio to anyone.”

While the value of public companies is usually determined by the market, given Kingdom's lack of transparency, low shares outstanding, and questionable trading practices, Forbes decided to focus on real assets. We estimated the returns on the hotel management interests of Four Seasons, Movenpick and Fairmont Raffles and worked with an investment banker specializing in the hotel industry to apply a high ratio for public companies. We also calculated the net-of-debt value of equity interests in more than 15 Kingdom-owned hotels.

Taking into account other holdings we have been able to identify, including real estate in Saudi Arabia and a portfolio of shares of companies in the US and the Middle East, we value the prince's stake in Kingdom Holding at $10.6 billion, or $9.3 billion less than the market grade.

Even if the prince were to attribute most of his reported $9.7 billion assets outside Saudi Arabia: Sanbar listed properties in Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth $4.6 billion, stakes in Arab media companies valued at $1.1 billion (Forbes discounted this figure because the prince uses the current net value of future earnings, and we use the current earnings multiplier) and another $3.5 billion in investments in public and private companies around the world - and even if you include numerous planes, yachts, cars and jewelry, Forbes' final estimate does not exceed $20 billion. Still the richest man in the Arab world. Still $2 billion more than last year. But $9.6 billion less than the prince himself claims. And since Forbes prides itself on conservative valuations, in this case we believe the proceeds would be even lower if the assets were sold.

Prince's orders

A week before Forbes completed its calculations, the prince gave his chief financial officer direct instructions that his place on the 2013 Forbes list be in line with his wishes: more specifically, that his fortune be valued at $29.6 billion, which would bring him back in the top ten of the ranking - the place he dreamed of so much. Our source, who is not an employee of the company and is well acquainted with the prince's way of thinking and speaking style, claims that the direct order to Sanbar was formulated as a requirement to "go to extreme measures."

This was followed by four detailed letters from Sanbar criticizing our journalists and our methodology for being biased against the prince. “Why does Forbes apply different standards to different billionaires, is it because of our background?” - asked Sanbar.

In one letter, Sanbar insisted that the value of Kingdom's holdings had skyrocketed, but did not go into detail. He did, however, mention that Kingdom has reduced unrealized losses across the portfolio by nearly $1 billion since 2008. In another letter, he says the Saudi Securities Market Commission spent 12 months reviewing Kingdom's 2007 IPO. “This is detrimental to the establishment of Saudi-American relations. Forbes' actions are offensive to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and inconsistent with the pursuit of progress."

Finally, Sanbar insisted that al-Waleed's name be removed from the list of billionaires unless Forbes increased its estimate of his wealth. As Forbes asked increasingly specific questions as it fact-checked the story, the prince unilaterally announced through his office the day before publication that he was going to “sever ties” with the Forbes billionaire list. “Prince Alwaleed made this decision because he felt he could no longer participate in a process that is based on distorted data and appears to be aimed at discrediting investors and institutions in the Middle East.”

“Over the years, we have been a willing partner of the Forbes team and have repeatedly pointed out flaws in our methodology that needed to be corrected,” Sanbar said in a statement. “However, after several years of our efforts to correct errors being ignored, we concluded that Forbes was not going to improve the accuracy of their assessment of our holdings and decided to move forward.”

And how did the prince tell us about his decision? Via a press release.

Translation by Natalia Balabantseva

From the editor. In 2013, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal filed a lawsuit against Forbes magazine, accusing the publication of understating his fortune and with $20 billion, he took only 29th place in the Forbes ranking. The prince himself estimated his fortune at $29.6 billion, with which he would be in the top ten richest people in the world. In 2015, both sides said that the legal conflict had been settled “on mutually acceptable terms.” In the global ranking of billionaires in 2017, the prince took 45th place.

Prince Alwaleed on his 83-day imprisonment

One of the world's richest men talks about his captivity by the Saudi Arabian government.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suffered repeated setbacks on his way to becoming the richest investor in the Middle East and one of the most recognizable faces of Saudi Arabia. He went broke in the 1980s and lost billions of dollars on Citigroup Inc. during the 2008 financial crisis. But nothing compares to the humiliation he had to endure these past few months. Last November, Al-Waleed's uncle, King Salman, and his cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, led a government raid on alleged fraudsters, embezzlers and money launderers, leading to Al-Waleed's detention and jailing for 83 days in what has become the infamous Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh.

I saw Al-Waleed in late 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 along the sands and eating a late dinner in the cool midnight air. I returned to the kingdom in mid-March, seven weeks after his release. Al-Walid decided to break his silence and give an interview to Bloomberg Television.

The day before the interview, we held 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, a brown sports jacket and sandals - and seemed relaxed. Over the next two hours, he recounted his ordeal while sipping Arabic coffee and ginger tea as his five grandchildren sang and danced in the palace gymnasium. Hot n Cold Katy Perry.

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

Al-Waleed has become quite a catch for a government keen to show its people that no Saudi will escape accountability in the fight against free-eating and graft: his $17.1 billion fortune ranks him 65th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And his international importance, forged through friendships and business partnerships with Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and their ilk, 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 posed the question bluntly: pay, sign a confession of guilt and be released, or refuse and languish in captivity. According to the Wall Street Journal, the cost of freeing Al-Waleed was six billion dollars. The negotiations were conducted in secret, and the government did not make any accusations or present any evidence. Critics said the captives were being denied due process and accused Prince Mohammed of waging 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 emerge about ill-treatment and even torture at the Ritz-Carlton, which immediately made it to the pages of the Daily Mail Online and regional media. Therefore, when at the end of January the prince, still at the hotel, appeared in a certain video shot on a smartphone, exhausted and tired after two and a half months in prison, speculation only intensified. He said that he was being treated decently, but no one believed it. (Most recently, the New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that some detainees were physically abused and otherwise coerced into confessing, and one military officer in custody died with all the signs of a severe beating).

Since his release, Al-Waleed had gained a little weight and seemed more energetic, lively, and busy than 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 in the same conditions as a group of crooks. And any complaint could cause anger, which he already faced directly.

We conducted the interview on a makeshift set in Al-Walid's apartment on the 67th floor of the Kingdom skyscraper in Riyadh. As I walked in, I thought about how frank 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 achieve his release? Can his words be trusted? What if the government threatened him? Will I be able to talk about this?

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

Let's start with the obvious: why?

Al-Waleed's detention was mysterious compared to the others. Of all the arrested princes, he is the only one who 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 could not inflate tariffs. He acquired most of his wealth transparently through real estate and as an investor in the public markets.

Eric Schatzker: First question: why were you arrested?

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

So, is it fair to use the word “arrest” only in relation to those who committed a crime and admitted guilt?

Exactly. And he reached an agreement with the government. But in my case, as you know, the situation is completely 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 widespread international investments, it is very important to state the absence of both blame and blame.

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

I say “misunderstanding” because I think I shouldn’t have been there. Now that everything is over, I would say that all suspicions have been cleared from me. However, I must say that we have indeed reached full understanding with the government.

What does it mean?

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

Does this require you to take certain actions?

Not necessary. Again, I cannot expand on this, since the information is secret and concerns only me and the government. But rest assured: this does not constrain me in any way.

What did the government want from you?

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

They must have wanted something.

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

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

I have read about six billion, and about larger and smaller amounts.

How much did freedom cost you? Have you been asked to pay the government any money, give up any possessions, or give up any shares?

You must respect the confidential agreement reached between me and the government of Saudi Arabia and based on confirmed mutual 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 that you did not sign any plea agreement.

We actually signed a document, a confirmed mutual understanding. Some may call this a settlement agreement. I don’t think so, because in my understanding, an agreement is an admission that you did something wrong.

You, of course, understand how important it is to be honest and frank with me. If another version emerges, your credibility will suffer.

Of course.

So, everything you said is one hundred percent true?

I have a confirmed understanding with the government and it remains in effect. I will go into detail on this: this is an ongoing process with the government.

The question of Al-Waleed's reputation

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

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

When you are detained, someone in the business or banking community is bound to raise concerns. My job now 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 have doubts. However, I assure them that everything is fine, everything is back to normal and we are functioning 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 this did not 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 speaking 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, I need to clarify many false points. For example, that I was tortured and sent to prison. It's a lie. I stayed at the hotel the entire time and was never tortured.

Inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel

For three months, 381 Saudis remained locked inside the Ritz-Carlton, which has 492 rooms, 52 acres of land and giant meeting rooms. Many were quickly released. Al-Walid's stay was one of the longest. The prince says he was kept in room 628, a 4,575-square-foot (425 sq. m.) royal suite.

What have you been doing all this time?

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

Describe one typical day.

I went to bed at 6-7 am and woke up around noon. We prayed five times a day.

Did you have access to television and newspapers?

There was access to everything.

So, no one outside knew about what was happening inside, but 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 ill-treatment, torture or beatings?

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

Were you allowed to talk to other detainees?

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

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

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

Were calls tracked?

Probably yes.

Dealing with the Crown Prince

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

What is it like to be captured by your own cousin?

It's not easy, I must admit. It's hard when you're being held against your will. But after being released, I had a very strange feeling. I gathered all the senior employees of my companies and those close to me and told them: “I swear to you that I am completely calm and peaceful and do not feel resentment or other bad feelings.”

And, of course, a day later we were again communicating with the royal court, the crown prince and his people. The situation is very strange, but that’s exactly what 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 have become stronger. This affects 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 to him in person.

Do you talk to him once every three days?

We mostly text each other and talk less often. But we communicate every week.

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

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

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

Navigating the new Saudi Arabia

The crown prince has also become the largest Saudi investor, pouring 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 CEOs of international companies?

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

Can you travel?

Of course I can.

Are you unsure if the government is monitoring your whereabouts?

I don't care.

What about your bank accounts?

Everything is back to normal.

You are looking for foreign investment, as is the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Isn't this competition?

In fact, in terms of participation in many projects, we maintain contact with the government. They have a big project planned 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 Disney-style entertainment center.

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

What about joint investments? Will PIF invest alongside Kingdom Holding or perhaps Rotana or Prince Alwaleed himself?

Yes, this will happen. We are currently discussing certain projects with PIF.

Domestic projects or international ventures?

Internal for starters.

The Crown Prince visits Western countries, meets with Trump at the White House and tries to attract capital to Saudi Arabia. Given what happened to you at the Ritz-Carlton, how pleased are you to represent a united front with the government that got you there in the first place?

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

People will have a hard time understanding this.

They don't 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 this sounds strange. They will definitely say, “Do you really still support the king and the crown prince after being their prisoner?”

One needs to think about how willing business executives will be to invest in Saudi Arabia after witnessing this type of dispute resolution.

I'll let them decide for themselves. On my own behalf, I can say this: business is progressing as usual, and we will continue to invest in Saudi Arabia.

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

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

This weekend, mass arrests of members of the royal family and people associated with it took place in Saudi Arabia. Among the corruption suspects was Prince Al-Waleed, who tried to establish ties with Russia

Al-Waleed (Photo: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

“They put personal interests above public interests”

On the evening of November 4, the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, issued a decree to combat corruption and stated that he intends 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 interests” in order to illegally enrich themselves.

Shortly after this, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported mass arrests: 11 members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia, four current and “dozens” of former ministers were suspected of corruption. Among them are Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the former head of the Ministry of 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 camp in the desert.

On Monday, November 6, a senior Saudi official said. 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, including a $10 billion deal for the supply of walkie-talkies and body armor. Former Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf is accused of embezzling funds during the expansion of the Great Mosque of Mecca. In addition, he is suspected of using his official position and confidential information when carrying out land transactions. 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 metro.

Prince vs Prince

Against the backdrop of fragmentary data from Saudi Arabia, different versions have emerged about what goal the 81-year-old monarch was pursuing. As reported by Bloomberg, the detentions only strengthened rumors that King Salman was thereby 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 Ministry of the National Guard. The agency's interlocutors pointed to the fact that in recent months, responsible positions were occupied by people from the crown prince's entourage, and Mitab had difficulty maintaining his position.

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

Middle East expert Hani Sabra told Bloomberg that the crown prince's rise had previously caused resentment among many influential Saudis. Now that Khaled Ayyaf has headed the department, which was considered a stronghold of the clan of the former King Abdullah, it is almost impossible to predict the reaction within the royal family.

Experts were very surprised by the detention of Al-Walid, who had 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 Alwaleed Kingdom Tower skyscraper in honor of the national holiday. However, Market Watch indicates that the prince may have been remembered by his relatives. If Al-Walid himself did not claim a leading role in governing the state, then his father Talal bin Abdul Aziz actively opposed the promotion of Prince Mohammed. The publication's sources associate the rapid purge within the ruling dynasty with Salman's allegedly made decision to retire at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

Facing Iran and back to Trump

Al-Walid's detention raised eyebrows among his business partners. According to The New York Times, it was no coincidence that he was called the Warren Buffett of the Middle East. Forbes estimates Prince Alwaleed's fortune at $18 billion, which puts him 45th in the ranking of the world's richest people. 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 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 Hotel in Paris and the Plaza Hotel in New York.

As The New York Times points out, the prince's arrest was carried out against the backdrop of strengthening friendship between Prince Mohammed and American President Donald Trump. Al-Waleed, despite the difficult relations between Riyadh and Tehran, was planning to invest in the Iranian economy several years ago and abandoned this idea due to the hard 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 Morgan/EPA)

It is worth noting that Trump’s relationship with Al-Walid did not work out. Even during the election campaign in the United States, businessmen exchanged barbs. The prince named the Republican candidate "

Childhood

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born on March 7, 1955 into a royal family, the rank, title or occupation of each member of which is truly impressive.

His father, Prince Talal ibn Abdel Aziz, was Minister of Finance; in the 60s he opposed the current government of King Faisal as part of the liberal movement. His grandfather is Riad Al-Solh, a famous political figure, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Al-Walid's uncle Salman is the reigning king of Saudi Arabia, and his maternal cousins ​​are the princes of Morocco - Moulay Hisham Angle and Moulay Ismail.

The baby was not yet four when his parents decided to divorce. Prince Al-Walid stayed with his mother, Princess Monica, and soon they moved to Beirut, where the guy spent his childhood.

Education

As befits children in royal families, Al-Walid received a prestigious education. He went to America to study, where he chose Menlo College in San Francisco to study. Here he received his bachelor's degree, after which he went to Syracuse University in New York. Here he studied social sciences with world-famous teachers.

The young prince liked life in America - he quickly got used to it, fell in love with business style clothing, fast food and Coca-Cola. It seemed pointless for a young, active and educated young man to return to his homeland.

Starting a business career and its successful continuation

Prince Al-Waleed began his commercial activities in 1979. Taking out a loan of $350,000, he began providing intermediary services to foreign firms that planned to cooperate with Saudi Arabia. Thanks to the prince’s close relationship with quite influential people in the country, his debut in the business world turned out to be quite successful. In addition to mediation, Al-Walid was involved in the purchase and resale of plots of land. In 1980, Al-Waleed bin Talal founded the Kingdom company.

One of the prince's most famous and successful investments was Citibank. In the 1990s, Al-Walid acquired a significant part of the shares of Citibank, which at that time was in an extremely difficult financial situation. By investing almost all of his investments in Citibank, he saved it from complete collapse. Subsequently, more than half of Al-Walid’s fortune was precisely this company, which he once saved from falling.

The prince's next successful acquisition was a stake in Citigroup preferred shares. Having bought the company's shares for almost nothing, Al-Walid made the right decision - at the beginning of 1994, the shares literally soared in price, which significantly increased Al-Walid's capital.

The prince has been seen more than once in collaboration with Bill Gates and Microsoft, and he is also famous for his generous investments in companies working with the media.

"Arabian Warren Buffett"

Prince Alwaleed is often compared to another successful businessman, Warren Buffett, due to his impressive investment acumen. However, these two investors do not have much in common: Al-Walid, if you look at it, has very few high-profile investments, and the most successful of them is still the same Citigroup. Buffett became famous for dozens of large transactions.

These two businessmen are very different in their attitude to luxury. Warren Buffett lives in a house worth just over 30 thousand dollars, while the prince has a luxurious palace valued at more than 100 million. Also, Al-Walid, like most eastern billionaires, has a weakness for expensive cars, private jets and luxury yachts. In 2012, the prince once again recalled his love for luxury by purchasing the only example of an elite aircraft to date. Al-Walid now owns a personal Airbus-380 aircraft.

Forbes scandal

The annual ranking published by Forbes magazine in 2013, as usual, consisted of people whose wealth has long been estimated in the billions. An Arabian businessman was also on the list. But if, according to the calculations of the editors of the publication, the prince’s assets amounted to 20 billion (he took 26th place in the hundred), then he himself announced a figure of 29 billion dollars. A difference of almost ten billion could significantly affect its place in the ranking.

It is reported that Prince Al-Waleed sent a letter to the CEO of Forbes, in which he asked in an uncompromising manner that his name no longer appear in the publication's rankings. Not this year, not any other. Then he openly stated that he did not trust the publication, and the methods of assessing the condition used by journalists were absolutely incorrect and incorrect.

Forbes management did not tolerate such antics that undermined the authority of the publication. Literally a few days later, a detailed article about Al-Walid was published on the official website of the magazine, which outlined a different point of view on the current situation. According to the publication, the prince is too fixated on his own image, so long before the publication of the list, Al-Walid’s PR managers demanded that the prince’s fortune be assessed based on the data of his personal lawyers.

Charity

In 2015, the news spread around the world that Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia, who was in his seventies, donated almost all of his fortune acquired during his life to charity. According to preliminary estimates, about 32 billion were written off from the billionaire’s accounts. He admitted that his example was Bill Gates, who also generously “shares” his personal fortune with his brainchild, the Gates Foundation. “This is my duty to humanity,” said the prince, mentioning that charity is an inherent honor of his faith - Islam.

The donated funds will be used to build hospitals, schools, orphanages, to help countries affected by natural disasters, to help single mothers and other groups of people in need.

Personal life

Not much is known about the personal life of Prince Al-Waleed: he was married three times, but is currently not married. From his first wife, named Delal, the prince has a son and a daughter. His next chosen one was Iman al-Sudairi; in this marriage, Al-Walid did not have children. Amira Al-Tawil was chosen as the third wife - a very extraordinary person, although not of royal blood. Amira became the first princess in Saudi Arabia to refuse to wear the traditional dress of Saudi women, the abaya. The Princess actively supports organizations and projects fighting for women's rights around the world.

Unfortunately, in the winter of 2014, the marriage of Princess Amira and Prince Al-Walid was dissolved. Rumor has it that the couple entered into a marriage contract, according to which Princess Amira could not have children. Most likely, this was the main reason for the divorce.