Prince alwaleed bin talal divorce. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud. Prince vs Prince

In mid-April 2004, one of the brightest and most powerful players, an Arab field commander, left the political scene in Chechnya. A significant part of his life passed in the shadow of another famous Arab commander -. And even now, more than two years after the “Black Arab” left for another world, the identity of his deputy, as well as the circumstances of his death, are still shrouded in mystery. We can lift the veil of this mystery only to a small extent, because any information about this character is unlikely to be complete and reliable.

Abu al-Walid's real name is Abd al-Aziz al-Ghamidi. He was born in 1967 in the Saudi Arabian province of Baljurashi in the family of a real estate, wood and paint merchant, Saeed bin Ali al-Ghamidi. Since Abd al-Aziz was the second of the eleven sons of Said ben Ali, he did not have to count on any significant part of his father’s inheritance. Perhaps that is why he chose the turbulent life of an ideological mercenary, fighting equally for money and for religious beliefs.

Abd al-Aziz’s family background also contributed to this. The fact is that al-Ghamidi is an old Saudi surname, descended from the Hamid tribe and always distinguished by significant religious zeal. Individual members of this family managed to achieve high positions in the Saudi hierarchy. Thus, until recently, the Saudi consul in Moscow was Abdullah al-Ghamidi. However, Abd al-Aziz, the son of a merchant, hardly hoped to become consul and from the very beginning could only rely on his own energy. Two other “scions of a noble family”, Ahmad Ibrahim al-Khaznawi al-Ghamidi and Said al-Ghamidi, who on September 11, 2001, together with two other terrorists, hijacked a Boeing 757 that crashed in Pennsylvania, also counted on the same thing. it is now believed to be a result of the struggle between passengers and air pirates.

In general, Abu al-Walid’s family ties are quite complicated. On the one hand, his parents' family lives and lives in Saudi Arabia. In Chechnya, Abu al-Walid married a Chechen woman, who bore him two sons - Omar and Saleh. On the other hand, for some reason there are persistent rumors among Chechen militants that Abu al-Walid was a cousin of the Jordanian Khattab. But, one way or another, al-Walid really most In his military biography, he was like the “younger brother” of the “Black Arab,” working for him “in the wings” and considering himself his governor.

Young Abu al-Walid took his first steps as a fighter in Afghanistan, fighting there together with Khattab against Soviet army. Later, after the establishment of the Taliban regime, he visited Afghanistan several times and took courses there additional training and was considered one of the first-class experts in explosives.

After Afghanistan, Abu al-Walid was seen in Yugoslavia, where he fought on the side of the Bosnian Muslims. His participation in the first Chechen campaign is questionable: at that time he was learning the intricacies of mine explosives in a camp near the Afghan Taliban. His first reliable appearance in Chechnya can be dated back to 1997: he made his way to the territory of the rebel republic from Afghanistan through Tajikistan. Moreover, he almost immediately became a confidant of Khattab and his right hand, responsible for supply issues and monetary allowances for militants. True, at first he held relatively modest positions in the gangster hierarchy: for example, according to documents captured in Grozny in February 2000, Abu al-Walid was listed with the rank of lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the battalion of the Islamic Khattab Regiment, which consisted mainly of Arab veterans. mercenaries.

During the existence of Maskhadov’s “Ichkeria,” the republic was in the field of Osama bin Laden’s closest attention. He had high hopes for independent Chechnya, intending to turn it into a springboard of forces international terrorism, from which it would be convenient to launch an attack on Dagestan with the goal of turning the Caucasus into a “Wahhabi fortress” and one of the strongholds of the future “caliphate.” Of all those of Chechen origin, probably only the one killed on February 28 of this year could boast of personal contacts with terrorist No. 1. However, the main vertical of power in Wahhabi Chechnya was built exclusively from Arabs.

Four Arab “international” terrorists were responsible for Chechnya before Osama bin Laden: Khattab, Abu Jafar, Abu Umar and Abu al-Walid. The first three, as is known, were liquidated during the second Chechen campaign. And only now the Chechen militants have lost al-Walid, for whose liquidation the Russian authorities once announced a reward of 100 thousand dollars.

Together with Khattab, Abu al-Walid took an active part in the attack on Dagestan, hoping to turn this republic, like Chechnya, into a “Sharia state.” But this time the militants’ affairs were not nearly as successful as in the first Chechen war. And when they were forced back into Chechnya and the second Chechen campaign began, things went really badly for the Arab mercenaries.

Al-Walid's luck also ran out. In March 2000, a group led by Achimez Gochiyaev, trained by al-Walid to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia, failed and was neutralized. Of all the gang members, only Gochiyaev himself managed to escape. And in the same month, al-Walid’s relative Yaqub al-Ghamidi was killed.

Before Khattab had at his disposal about a thousand experienced Arab fighters, many of whom began to fight with him in Afghanistan and Bosnia. Using the cover of the Chechens and Dagestani Wahhabis, Khattab was able to retain most of his forces and withdraw them to Chechnya. In the fall of 1999, difficult times came for them. Despite the fact that they could still count on the support of the population, especially in the southern regions of Chechnya, among the masses of ordinary Chechens there was growing rejection of the order that Khattab, Abu al-Walid and other Arab field commanders brought with them.

However, Khattab still had two main trump cards in his hands - firstly, his “Islamic Regiment”, and secondly (and more importantly), control over the funds coming to Chechnya on behalf of various extremist and terrorist organizations, primarily from "Muslim Brotherhood".

Along with the first defeats, discord began among Chechen and Arab commanders over the distribution of these funds. The Chechens (and some foreign “sponsors”) reasonably accused the Arabs of misappropriating a significant part of the material assistance. Gradually, the financial flow to Chechnya began to dry up - most of the funds, as an investigation by the Muslim Brotherhood showed, was stolen by Khattab and his inner circle, like Abu Umar or Abu Sayyah. During the war, Khattab, in collusion with some functionaries of the Muslim Brotherhood, was able to appropriate several tens of millions of dollars.

Abu al-Walid, although Khattab's right-hand man, was not directly and openly involved in this theft. Therefore, he was tipped for the post of plenipotentiary representative of the Muslim Brotherhood in Chechnya, that is, in Khattab’s place. The latter, of course, could not stand and watch as he was being brushed aside from big money and from sole power over the militants.

Of all the commanders, Khattab truly trusted very few. He has always been his confidant, but this can be explained more by the coincidence of interests of the two leaders than by sincere trust between them. At the same time, Khattab always positioned Basayev as the formal head of the militants, preferring to be a “gray eminence” himself and rule from behind Basayev’s back. For example, as soon as in 2001, commander Ramzan Akhmadov began to emerge as the leader of the Wahhabis based on his “combat merits,” Khattab immediately ordered his elimination, which was carried out by the Arab Yakub from Akhmadov’s detachment.

It can now be considered proven that in the fall of 2001, “a black cat ran between two Arab commanders.” Abu al-Walid, as the “chief quartermaster,” began an investigation into the disappearance of money intended for the militants, and, without receiving direct evidence, nevertheless came to the conclusion that Khattab was behind it. Because " public opinion“The militants were on the side of al-Walid, who presented himself as something of a selfless fighter for the faith, then Khattab found himself in a dangerous position. But he began to think about the possibility of leaving Chechnya long before that.

During the summer and autumn of 2001, Khattab was able to eliminate almost all of his associates involved in his machinations. Moreover, this was done most often by the hands of the Russian military, since Khattab sent these field commanders on difficult and dangerous missions. This is how Abu Darr, Abu Umar and Abu Yaqub were destroyed, and later Abu Sayyah.

Meanwhile, behind Khattab’s back, Abu al-Walid began to weave a conspiracy to remove his boss. He was able to directly contact Muslim Brotherhood officials such as Abu Rabia, and began to try to control the distribution of funds himself. Khattab, of course, could not forgive this.

Back in September 2001, he brought charges against Abu al-Walid that the latter was plotting something against him - and threatened to kill him. During the winter of 2001-2002, Khattab developed an operation to destroy his deputy. To this end, Abu al-Walid was put in charge of the danger zone south of Grozny.

Abu al-Walid understood perfectly well what kind of action his boss was preparing, and decided to take the lead. First of all, he prepared a “back-up option” - Abu Rabia, who was in Tbilisi, prepared documents, civilian clothes and a route to Georgia for him. Having secured a possible escape route, Abu al-Walid began to act.

To begin with, he enlisted the support of responsible persons from the Muslim Brotherhood group named Shagran and Abu Qutayba. Abu al-Walid was able to convince them that Khattab and no one else was to blame for the decline in terrorist activity, since he was embezzling money, preventing the recruitment of new militants, the purchase of weapons, explosives, ammunition and equipment.

Death was getting closer and closer to Khattab. In January 2002, the last (after Abu Yaqub and Abu Sayyah) financier of Khattab, Oybek Rasimov, nicknamed “Uzbek,” was killed. With his death, Khattab lost his last close commander, whom he could fully trust.

But Abu al-Walid could not “overthrow” Khattab as long as he had influential defenders in the Muslim Brotherhood organization. One of these people was a certain Abu Jaber, who all the time tried to embellish Khattab’s achievements and attributed to his sponsors clearly inflated military results. An example of such activity is the bandit operation in Argun in December 2001, carried out by people from the so-called “Argun jamaat” led by Ismail Eskiev. The latter, before the start of the operation, tried to get money through Abu al-Walid, who clearly set him against Khattab, wanting to provoke a serious “showdown” with the latter. However, Eskiev died in battle, and Abu Jaber was able to attribute all the results to Khattab.

Convinced of the impossibility of removing Khattab through the sheikhs of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, Abu al-Walid decided to eliminate Khattab physically, which he managed to do at the end of February. True, after this even such supporters as Abu Qutayba turned away from Abu al-Walid. But the position of Khattab's deputy ultimately ensured that al-Walid took his place after the death of the Black Arab.

Balancing on the contradictions between field commanders and their foreign patrons, Abu al-Walid al-Ghamidi was able to acquire the same dominant position in the distribution of financial flows as Khattab, who was killed with his help, occupied. Thus, for just one terrorist attack in the Moscow metro on February 6, 2004, Abu al-Walid received four and a half million dollars, most of which he appropriated for himself.

However, in the two years that have passed since the death of Khattab, the situation in Chechnya has become much less favorable for the militants, and money for Act of terrorism There were a lot fewer people coming in, and it was becoming more and more difficult to carry them out. Therefore, Abu al-Walid, according to many experts, was planning, like Khattab, to leave Chechnya and move to other regions of the world, where he could still make good money by waging a terrorist war.

The subsequent missile and bomb attack on the mountain base where al-Walid was located on April 16, 2004, put an end to his presence in Chechnya. And it doesn’t matter whether he was killed (as most likely happened) or staged own death to leave Chechnya. The important thing is that it was the last one major representative the Arab “old guard” Khattab, who acted in connection with international terrorists and received money from them. Those who now remain in Chechnya are mostly privates and non-commissioned officers of the terrorist army. Who still have the strength to make daring attacks, but it is unlikely that sufficient authority will ever appear to force serious international terrorists to respect themselves the way Emir Khattab and his “ younger brother» Abu al-Walid al-Ghamidi.

Prince Khalid ibn al-Walid al-Saud is a typical hipster. He wears Converse sneakers and a hoodie, takes Uber, and doesn't eat animal products. He has a goal in life - to rid the world of animal farms. And he also has huge cash to achieve this goal.

ALEXEY ALEXEEV

student child

Few people in Russia have heard the name of the Saudi prince Khalid ibn al-Walid al-Saud. There is no article about him in the Russian-language Wikipedia, and a Russian-language Google search produces several articles from vegetarian sites and thousands of links to articles about the prince’s father, a multibillionaire investor.

Prince Khalid bin al-Walid al-Saud was born in 1978 in California. Not the most common place of birth for a member of the Saudi royal family, right? How did he get there?

This story can begin from the middle of the last century. Since John Russell, a professor at the little-known American Menlo College, decided to spend his vacation in Saudi Arabia. He told Saudi acquaintances that he worked in a small private business school that provided a very good education for a lot of money. The professor could hardly have predicted what would happen next.

Soon the first students from Saudi Arabia appeared at the college. After the oil boom of the 1970s, their numbers began to grow rapidly. To date, more than 100 members of the Saudi royal family have graduated from Menlo College. Other elite Saudi families also began sending their sons to study at Menlo, and one family even decided to give an American education to their daughter! Statistically, the percentage of Saudi Arabian students in the college population is higher than that of any other US institution.

In 1975, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, grandson of the founder and first king of Saudi Arabia, entered the college. Years later, this prince, an MBA from Menlo College, would be called Saudi Arabia's Warren Buffett.

The prince will argue with Forbes magazine because it underestimates the size of his fortune. The magazine's latest estimate puts it at $18.7 billion, making Prince al-Waleed the 45th richest person on the planet. Bloomberg in November estimated his fortune at $17.8 billion.

But then, 43 years ago, he was just a moderately well-fed young man who came to California to learn how to make money. The following year, student al-Walid married his cousin Dalal. Their firstborn was Prince Khalid.

From college to university

Having received his bachelor's degree, Prince al-Walid, his wife and one-year-old son returned to their homeland. He completed his master's degree at Syracuse University in sociology in absentia. In his free time from studying, he worked part-time. Mortgaged the house given by his father. Sold a necklace given by his father to his wife. Invested the money wisely. He was involved in real estate, construction, and bought banks. Slowly he became an international investor and became a billionaire.

His The only son and the heir, Prince Khalid, lived with his father in the palace. When Prince Khalid was four years old, he had younger sister Rome. A little later, the parents divorced. Then dad married again and divorced again.

In 1997, a family consisting of a single father with two teenage children celebrated their housewarming by moving into a new palace in the center of Riyadh. There were 317 rooms in the palace, almost every one had a TV. Italian marble, oriental carpets, gold taps in the bathrooms, five kitchens (for Lebanese, Arabic, European Continental and Asian dishes and a separate one for sweets). In the courtyard there is a swimming pool, in the basement there is a cinema hall. The single father also had a yacht purchased from the American developer Donald Trump, several personal planes and three hundred cars, and one Rolls Royce was considered his daughter’s.

Even when buying a personal yacht, Prince Al-Waleed showed himself to be a talented investor. He purchased it at a reduced price from the developer D. Trump during a falling real estate market. In the photo - Prince Al-Walid with his son Khalid and daughter Reem

Photo: Balkis Press/ABACAPRESS/Kommersant

Of course, Princess Reem didn't drive it herself. Not because she was 15 years old, but because the laws of the kingdom prohibited women from driving.

In the year of his housewarming, Prince Khalid turned 19. And two things happened in his life important events, which largely determined the future of the prince. Following in his father's footsteps, he entered an American business school. True, not to Menlo College, popular among the Saudi elite, but to the University of New Haven. Then he worked in a bank and moved to his father’s investment holding Kingdom Holding Company.

But my father’s example in another area of ​​life turned out to be even more important. Despite five kitchens and a crowd of chefs capable of preparing dinner for 2,000 people in an hour, Prince Al-Walid decided that he needed to lose weight and generally lead a healthy lifestyle.

If as a student he weighed 90 kg, then along with billions of dollars came additional kilograms. Al-Walid began counting calories. Islam did not allow him to drink alcohol, and his own beliefs did not allow him to smoke. The great investor became a vegetarian.

Livestock farms - consigned to the dustbin of history

“Prince Khalid is considered to have Western, progressive views on many issues, including the role of women in Saudi society. He, like his father, has a business mind, but at the same time he is simple and sweet.” This characterization of Prince Khalid is contained in the files of the private American intelligence and analytical company Stratfor, published by WikiLeaks. Journalists who interviewed him write the same thing about the prince.

In Saudi Arabia he wears traditional clothes, but in America he wears jeans, a hoodie, a baseball cap and black Converse sneakers (faux leather tops, of course). True, during foreign trips lives in Four Seasons hotels, which can hardly be called budget. But he does this not at all out of a desire to spend extra money, but on the contrary, out of savings: his father is a co-owner of this network.

The prince most clearly demonstrated his progressive Western views in 2005, when he married a girl not from the royal family, but from a simple family - the daughter of the country's finance minister.

Khalid is not just the heir to his father's business empire. In 2013, he founded his own company, KBW Investments. He has business interests on all continents. But in addition to investing in traditional business areas (construction, mining, automotive, hospitality, media), Prince Khalid also invests in high technology - mobile payments, smartphone applications, energy saving. He helped launch TechnoBuffalo, a popular website dedicated to consumer electronics and new technologies.

The prince is very concerned about environmental issues. He abandoned investments in oil and gas, an industry primarily associated with Saudi Arabia. He has only one car - a Tesla electric car. Outside his native kingdom, he prefers Uber. Khalid believes the world is in danger ecological catastrophy due to climate change, caused in particular by excessive meat consumption.

In 2008, Khalid watched two American documentaries: Food, Inc. and Food. The price of the issue" (Food Matters). The first talks about how inhumane the meat industry is and what harm it causes to the environment. The second is about which foods benefit the body and which cause harm. According to the prince, the films literally opened his eyes. The prince had another reason to think about food. Khalid at that time weighed 105 kg. His blood cholesterol levels were greatly elevated. Thanks to veganism, he lost weight to 82 kg in seven months and brought his cholesterol back to normal. Before and after photos are now posted on his Facebook.

Last summer, Prince Khalid said in an interview: “My the main objective- send livestock farms to the dustbin of history. This must happen in my lifetime."

The prince estimates that he can achieve the goal within 10 years through strategic investments in new agricultural methods that will provide the world's population with enough plant-based proteins.

Shortly before this interview, the prince started a page on Facebook. It opens with the motto: “Stand up for what you believe in, even if you do it alone.” However, he is not alone. Prince Khalid managed to convince his father to become not just a vegetarian, but a vegan.

As Prince Khalid writes on his Facebook, if the world sticks to the traditional diet, disaster is inevitable: “We must boycott fast food restaurants and take care of our health and the health of our children before this disaster occurs.”

Last February, the first vegan gourmet restaurant opened in the Kingdom of Bahrain with a very simple name - Cafe Plant. It is also the first restaurant outside of North America by chef Matthew Kenny, a guru of raw-vegan cuisine.

Prince Khalid initially thought of paying a franchise to an American chef, but then he came up with a better idea - investing in the Kenny restaurant chain. The Cafe Plant restaurant became part of this chain. It is conveniently located opposite the most prestigious English-medium school in the country.

Thanks to Prince Khalid, the first vegan restaurant opened in Bahrain, part of the chain of establishments of the legendary chef Matthew Kenny (pictured in the center)

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for NYCWFF

Over the past year, many rave reviews about the restaurant have appeared on travel websites. Everyone, even people who are far from vegan, unanimously admire the taste of the dishes, but not everyone is delighted with the prices.

Prince Khalid intends to increase the number of such restaurants in the region to 10 by 2020. He realizes that this will not change the situation much, but it will be a step in the right direction.

The prince financed the filming of the documentary “Eating Our Way To Extinction” (“If we eat like this, we will become extinct”). The film is planned to be released this year. Another documentary film, which is being filmed with the prince's money, is dedicated to UFC mixed martial arts champion James Wilkes and other vegan athletes. Prince Khalid believes that documentaries can influence viewers to change their views, as he once did.

Last May, he attended a summit in New York for the Reducetarian Foundation, a foundation that advocates for a global reduction in meat consumption to protect human health, the environment and humane animal agriculture.

Last September, Prince Khalid's company was among investors who invested $17 million in San Francisco-based startup Memphis Meats. This company is working on technology to create “clean meat” grown from animal cells in the laboratory. Among the investors who supported the startup are Bill Gates, Richard Branson and the Draper Fisher Jurvetson venture fund, which previously invested in Baidu, SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter. Interestingly, the foundation is based next door to the town of Atherton in Silicon Valley, where Prince Khalid was born 40 years ago.

That same month, the prince became a member of the board of directors of the Hampton Creek food company, which produces and sells vegetarian food products. The company is also developing “clean meat” and plans to bring it to market this year.

One day, Prince Khalid walked into the vegan cafe Life"n One in Dubai. The cafe has a slate board on which visitors can write their continuation of the sentence “Before I die, I want...”

The prince wrote: "End animal farms."

The East does not live by Sheikha Moza alone. In hot and deserted Saudi Arabia, on November 6, 1983, Princess Amira Al-Tawil, the wife of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, was born.

Princess Amira is the wife of Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. She is vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundation, an international non-profit organization supporting programs and projects to combat poverty, disaster relief, women's rights and interfaith dialogue. The princess is also on the board of trustees of Silatech, an international organization for youth employment.

Princess Amira is a graduate of the University of New Haven (USA) with a degree in business administration. She defends women's rights, incl. and the right to drive, obtain education, and obtain employment without having to seek permission from a male relative. Amira herself has international driver license and drives the car herself on all trips abroad. Known for her impeccable dress sense, Amira is the first Saudi princess to refuse to wear the traditional abaya in public like other women in the kingdom.

Lecture at a business school in Barcelona

The Princess is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundation, an international non-profit organization supporting programs and projects to combat poverty, the effects of disasters, women's rights and interfaith dialogue.

Opening of the Forum of Arab Women Leaders

With husband

Amira is the first Saudi princess to refuse to wear the traditional abaya in public, like other women in the kingdom. The princess herself is not of royal blood.

Amira's husband Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, better known as Prince Al-Waleed, is a member of the Saudi royal family, an entrepreneur and an international investor. He made his fortune through investment projects and buying shares. In 2007, his net worth was estimated at $21.5 billion (according to Forbes magazine). Al-Walid ibn Talal al-Saud ranks 22nd on the list of the richest people in the world.

The prince does not hold public office; he is the grandson of King Abdulaziz and nephew of the current king. In addition, he became famous as the most progressive saudi prince, advocates for equal rights for women in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on board his own yacht with his son Khaled and daughter Reem. 1999

According to various sources, Amir is his 3rd or 4th wife (the only one at the moment; he never had several wives at the same time). They have no children; the prince has two children from his first marriage. They say in their marriage contract it is written that the princess cannot have children. To what extent this is true, such information often accompanies discussions between this couple.

Princess Amira arrived in New York for the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. It was founded by Bill Clinton to combat global problems such as poverty and disease. She and her husband did something that she believed would help bridge the gap “between faiths and cultures.” The Al-Waleed Family Foundation helped open the Islamic art wing at the Louvre in Paris, donating approximately $20 million to the project. “Art opens people's minds in a different way,” says Princess Amira.

She likes to open minds. In her home country of Saudi Arabia, which is notorious for prohibiting women from driving, dating men, and where until recently they were prohibited from voting, Amira is a vocal advocate for women's rights. She says that divorced women in Saudi Arabia are required to give up custody of their daughters and that female lawyers are not allowed to appear in court.

She says she drives "in the desert" where she can get away with it. “Women in rural areas have much more freedom than in cities,” she notes. - They can drive. They don't wear abayas." She herself wore a yellow jacket to the meeting, her dark hair was not covered with anything.

Amira says she is friends with Saudi activist Manal Al-Sharif, who became famous for boldly posting a video of herself driving a car on YouTube. For this she was sent to prison for a week. The princess calls Manal a “fearless woman” and believes that driving rules need to be changed.

“I think it’s enough for the king to say, ‘Women can drive. Those who don’t want to don’t have to do it,” she says. The princess calls King Abdullah's recent decision to give women the opportunity to vote in municipal elections very courageous. At the same time, she notes that many religious leaders were against it. “He believes in empowering women,” says the princess. “I think he is the person who can do it.”

Amira, 30, denies that her activism causes her to face problems in public spheres. “Everyone knows me,” she says. - I communicate with extreme conservatives and extreme liberals. My goal is not to create negativity, but unity."

In her opinion, the West often has the wrong idea about Saudi Arabia. Amira notes that only bad news, but the good ones are not. “56% of university graduates are women,” she says. - We watch the television series “Seinfeld”, “Friends”, presidential affairs - many Saudi Arabian residents love America. I swear to God, if you come, you will see Saudis watching American television.”

The princess mentions a recent Newsweek profile of a conservative woman in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing: “She doesn't represent all women... she's extremely conservative. And seventy percent of Saudis are people from the middle ground.” However, Amira says she respected the article because it showed the extreme conservatism of the woman's family. And she loves that one of the photos shows young Saudi college girls laughing and wearing fashionable sunglasses.

With Sheikha Moza

Princess Amira studied literature at the University. King Saud in Saudi Arabia, as well as management at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, although she lived in her home country while studying at an American university. According to Amira, she knew a professor at this university, and the learning process was a close collaboration with numerous phone calls and visits.

“What’s important about American education is that you get exposed to a lot of things—classical music, comparative religions…you learn about Hinduism and Buddhism,” she shares her impressions. But the princess refuses to talk about her personal life. She says she comes from a middle-class family and her mother is divorced.

Her latest project is the Opt4Unity initiative, which is implemented through the Al-Waleed Foundation. Like the Clinton Global Initiative, its idea is to bring together an “unusual team” of business leaders, investors and philanthropists to solve the world's problems in jobs, food and education. “We all talk about people who can make a difference,” says Princess Amira. “Let’s do something.”

Princess Amira receives the 2012 Woman Leader of the Year award at the 11th Women Leaders of the Middle East ceremony in Dubai.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

P.S.
On October 10, 2013, a large-scale and unprecedented event for the UAE took place in Dubai - the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience, organized by the Italian edition of Vogue and the investment company Emaar Properties.

The event was held in mall The Dubai Mall and consisted of three parts. The first of them included fashion shows, exhibitions, movie screenings and much more. Guests of the mall could admire the collections of more than 250 global brands. Next, those present were treated to a gala dinner, which was also attended by celebrities from the world of fashion and art, and Italian opera tenor Vittorio Grigolo and American Ballet Theater dancer Roberto Bole presented their performances.

The third part of the evening was a charity auction with unusual lots: from a gold Versace pendant to a custom Valentino dress or a weekend at the Armani Hotel. As a result, the entire day of sales at the event raised approximately $1.4 million, which will be donated to Dubai Cares, a charity that provides education to children in developing countries.

The fortune of the cosmopolitan investor, nephew of the Saudi king, increased by $6.1 billion last year. Two-thirds of his capital is a 95% stake in the investment fund Kingdom Holding Company. In the five weeks preceding the cut-off date (by which capitalization is calculated for the Forbes rating), the company's shares rose in price by 49%. Al-Waleed and Kingdom Holding Company own 3.5% of Citigroup, as well as large stakes in the Four Seasons and Fairmont hotel chains. In February, News Corp. acquired 9% of Al-Walid's media company Rotana, valuing it at $770 million. His palaces and real estate are worth more than $3 billion. He owns a jewelry collection, worth, according to his estimates, $730 million, and four aircraft, including an Airbus A380.

Al-Waleed ibn Talal is a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia. He is the son of Prince Talal, whose parents were Saudi Arabia's founder Abdul Aziz Alsaud and Princess Mona El Sol.

Al-Walid ibn Talal received his education in the USA, first with a bachelor's degree in business management, then with a Doctor of Science and Doctor of Law. His property is the investment empire Kingdom Holding Company. He owns the largest stakes in many well-known companies. Among them are Worldcom, Motorola, AOL, Apple, etc. The prince’s sphere of interests also includes real estate. These include stakes in hotels in New York, Monaco and London, as well as a chain of entertainment complexes in France. His work schedule allows him to sleep only five hours a day. They say about him that despite his relationship with the ruling king, Alwaleed Alsaud tries not to get involved in politics.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is actively involved in charity work, including donating more than one hundred million dollars annually to organizations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa that deal with the needs of those in need. He is engaged in organizing educational centers in the Middle East for American students, and in the USA for Islamic ones. Two years ago he donated twenty million dollars to the Louvre to build a new wing dedicated to Islamic art. In the same year, the prince transferred twenty million dollars each to American universities at Harvard and Georgetown. The donation is among the 25 largest at Harvard and the second largest at Georgetown. University administrators said the donations will be used to improve curricula and also expand faculty in the field.

Prince Alwaleed promotes equal rights for women and is the country's first female airline pilot.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal

Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is the nephew of the current reigning king of Saudi Arabia. He made his fortune through investments and owns the Kingdom Holding Company. He makes all his investments through this company. The prince began making investments, which later brought him fabulous money, back in the late seventies, taking out a loan of three hundred thousand dollars. He is one of the richest people in the world.

It is said that he sleeps five hours a day, so much of his time is spent monitoring investments. He owns large shares in AOL, Apple Computers, Worldcom, Motorola, News Corporation Ltd and others. In 1990, Al-Walid ibn Talal acquired a controlling stake in Citicorp, which was going through hard times at that time. Now the shares owned by the prince are worth ten billion dollars.

Spends a lot on charity. After the terrible tragedy of September 11, he offered New York a donation of ten million dollars. The proposal was rejected by the city mayor. In 2002, Prince Alwaleed donated half a million dollars to the Bush Sr. School Scholarship Fund. In December of the same year, he donated twenty-seven million dollars to the government of Saudi Arabia to pay the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, he donated a total of $5.3 million in goods and funds for support and restoration. Among other things, he plans to sell five percent of his Kingdom Holding Company to the public. The company's value is estimated at $17.6 billion. The shares will be offered at $2.73 per share. If the shares are in demand, the offer may be expanded to fifteen percent of the company's shares.

According to Al-Walid ibn Talal, in the modern world, issues of tolerance and understanding between East and West are among the most important. He builds bridges between the Western and Islamic communities, organizing educational centers for American students at universities in the Middle East and for Islamic students in the United States.

The prince loves to spend money on beautiful and expensive things. He has luxury cars, and he usually buys them in two copies: one for himself, and exactly the same for his bodyguards.

Although Prince Alwaleed bin Talal usually stays away from politics, he has recently begun making statements critical of excessive traditionalism in Saudi Arabia, advocating free elections and equal rights for women.

Al-Waleed bin Talal, Photo: Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters

Saudi prince. The richest man in the East of the 20th century. In 2012, he occupied 8th (according to other sources, 5th) place in the list of the richest businessmen on the planet. According to Bill Gates, he is the luckiest entrepreneur in the world.

The high-profile names of American and European business stars somewhat obscure the names of natives of other continents, although many of them occupy far from the last place in the business world of the planet. Our readers, as well as foreign ones, are little familiar with, for example, “business sharks” from the Middle East. Nevertheless, they are of great interest. Among them, one of the first places belongs to the Saudi Prince Al Walid, one of the world's largest investors and nephew of the current King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd.

Despite the fact that newspapermen dubbed him the “Prince of Glasnost,” little is known about him. Along with other Middle Eastern multi-billionaires, he is not keen on flaunting his privacy and is not prone to self-promotion. Al Walid's biography, personal characteristics and business skills are known only in the most general terms.

The prince's full name is Al Waleed ibn Talal ibn Abdel Aziz Al Saud. His grandfather was the country's founder, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, and his father was Prince Talal ibn Abdel Aziz, minister of finance. In the 60s he led a group of so-called “liberal princes” who opposed the policies of the then reigning King Faisal, and found himself in disgrace.

Al Waleed's mother, Princess Mona, is the daughter of Lebanese Prime Minister Riad Solha. When his parents divorced, the boy, who had a hard time experiencing this breakup, remained with his mother and was raised in Lebanon, the most democratic and Europeanized of the Middle Eastern countries. This undoubtedly had an impact on the formation of his personality. However, the day before civil war in Lebanon 1975-1990 Al Walid got carried away national idea and almost became a supporter of Yasser Arafat. But then my father intervened. He urgently called his son to Riyadh and got him a job military academy named after King Abdulaziz.

The young man did not like this choice. However, the strict laws of devout Islam required him to completely submit to the will of his father. Many years later he realized Talal was right. The Academy saved the prince from involvement in terrorism and made him a citizen of the world in the highest sense of that meaning. In addition, studying there helped him acquire self-discipline skills that are essential for every businessman.

After graduating from the academy, Al Walid, as a representative of a disgraced family, could not count on a high position in the government apparatus or in the political field. Pride did not allow him to agree to minor roles, so the young man chose to leave his native place and went overseas. He spent several years at Merlot College in California and Syracuse University, where he received a bachelor's degree in business administration and then a master's degree in political science and economics. However scientific career did not become the prince’s main motivation in life.

In 1979, Al Walid returned to his homeland, shaken by the “land fever”. With only $15,000 donated by his father, he founded the Kingdom Company and began land speculation, which brought in $2 million in net income.

After the death of his father, the young man inherited a house that was mortgaged for $1.5 million. In 1986, having pooled funds, Al Walid, following American models, unexpectedly bought up the Saudi Commercial Bank. Further manipulations with securities and shares caused a sensation in Saudi Arabia. The prince was predicted to go bankrupt. However, just two years later the second-rate bank made a profit, and soon absorbed the Saudi Cairo Bank, which had previously been many times larger than it in terms of turnover.

Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is perhaps the most famous among the more than two thousand Saudi princes. The prince stated that he started the business with 30 thousand dollars that his father gave him. Al-Walid, in his own words, only had a house and a loan for 300 thousand dollars.

The investor, however, does not mention whether he was directly helped The Royal Family. Apparently, something fell into the hands of the heir, because in 1991 he bought a stake in Citicorp (now Citigroup) for $800 million. This package became al-Walid's main asset. According to Bloomberg, the prince bought shares at $2.98 per share. By 2007, the securities had risen in price to $42, and the value of al-Walid's share exceeded ten billion dollars.

In 2007, the prince decided to organize an IPO (initial public offering) of his company Kingdom Holding. Only five percent of the shares were sold to investors. At the same time, there were no motives for bringing the company to the stock exchange: al-Walid did not need additional funds or increased capital liquidity. He also had no need to please his partners, who could sell their shares as part of the IPO.

The prince has been nicknamed "Arabia's Warren Buffett", a reference to his investment acumen. However, these two investors have little in common: al-Waleed, in fact, has only one high-profile investment in securities - an investment in Citicorp, while Buffett is known for several successful transactions. They also differ greatly in their attitude to luxury. For example, Buffett still lives in a house worth 31.5 thousand dollars, while the prince castle for 100 million. Al-Waleed is also known for his passion for luxury cars, yachts and airplanes.

Perhaps the only thing the two investors have in common is their desire for transparency. True, Buffett declares all income out of personal conviction (he is considered one of the most honest businessmen) and because the law requires it, but al-Walid has slightly different motives.

Transparency is nothing, image is everything

Image is perhaps the most important thing for al-Walid after money. Forbes writes about this in a separate article, which became a kind of response to the claims of the Arab businessman.

Thus Al Waleed became the pioneer of modern banking in Arabia. The next, and no less successful, stage was the purchase of Arabian real estate. Currently, the cost of buildings owned by Al Walid, including a three-hundred-meter skyscraper in the center of the Arabian capital, which houses charitable foundation named after King Faisal, is more than $53 million.

And yet, the basis of the prince’s initial capital was not speculation. land plots and not manipulation of securities. By his own admission, the greatest income came from the so-called “commissions” received for concluding transactions, which are very common in the Middle East. Here, no company, local or foreign, can obtain contracts without the help of princes or other high-ranking persons, and this is not considered reprehensible. The amount of such commission bribes is usually 30% of the contract value. The prince continues to use this source of income, despite the huge profits from his enterprises. For example, in 2000, commissions amounted to $40 million out of a total income of $500 million. And, according to Al Waleed, he earned all this money honestly and in abundance.

But let's go back to the beginning entrepreneurial activity Al Walida. It seemed to him that there were few successes in the Middle East. At the age of thirty-four, while Desert Storm was raging in the region, the prince made his debut on the global investment market. For $590 million, he bought a 9.9% stake in America's largest bank, Citicorp, which was experiencing serious difficulties. It became a sensation. Experienced analysts shrugged their shoulders, viewed the prince’s actions as a gamble and considered them the whim of an overly rich man. However, after 7 years, the value of the stake he purchased increased 12 times, and Forbes magazine, echoed by Bill Gates, ranked Al Walid among the most successful businessmen in the world. Approximately the same thing was repeated over the following years: Al Waleed was predicted to collapse financially, nevertheless, all his undertakings invariably brought huge dividends.

In the summer of 1994, Al Walid's name was again on the front pages of business news. He invested $350 million in shares of the Euro-Disney amusement park, which is under threat of bankruptcy, located near Paris. The prince suggested that the fall in the company's shares was due to a temporary economic downturn in Europe. As a result, he became the owner of 24.8% of the shares, which a year later were worth $600 million on the market.

The prince's sphere of activity is not limited to trading on the securities exchange. Together with Michael Jackson, he organized a joint corporation called the Kingdom of Entertainment. In the second half of the 90s. became actively involved in the hotel business, which had long interested him, speaking major shareholder project of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. Since then, Al Waleed has continuously made solid contributions to this field. As a result, a global holding of luxury hotels was created, the capital of which is estimated at $1 billion. Today the prince owns 50% of the shares of the Fairmont group, 30% of the Swiss hotel chain Movenpick, 25% of the Four Seasons hotel chain. The Prince is the owner of more than twenty luxury hotels V different countries Europe and America. Among them are the famous George V hotels in Paris, the Inn on the Park in London and the Plaza in New York.

In the spring of 2000, when Wall Street experienced a record drop in major stock market indicators, and the threat of huge financial losses, the prince was not afraid. The experienced stockbroker was confident that the situation would improve and the shares would creep up again. A month later, he had already invested a billion dollars in 15 world-famous companies operating in the field of new technologies and communications, and at the same time acquired shares of the most popular Internet providers that were on the verge of bankruptcy. It is known that Al Waleed, together with Bill Gates and Craig McCaw, took part in the Teledesic megaproject, which provides access to the Internet from anywhere on the planet.

Currently, his investments have reached $17 billion. Rumor has it that in the future the prince intends to rush to Africa, seeing profitable opportunities for investment there.

No one can answer the question of how much Al Waleed is “worth” now. Usually the figures are from 20 to 25 billion dollars. His huge empire includes Saudi and foreign banks, television channels and publishing houses, enterprises involved in construction, hotel, tourism, agriculture, retail trade, automobile manufacturing and industrial equipment, production of electronic equipment, computers and computer programs.

This largest of modern businessmen, despite a certain Europeanization, is very religious. At his own expense, he built a luxurious mosque in Riyadh. His wives were never photographed, as this is not allowed by religion. Observing the laws of Islam, Al Waleed does not drink, does not smoke, does not buy shares in companies that produce tobacco and alcohol products, and does not play roulette.

But in a number of cases, when business demands it, Al Walid prefers to take a liberal approach to the problems of Islam. Without playing himself, the prince makes huge profits from gambling. True, he deliberately spends this money on charity. Contrary to the opinion of Muslim jurists, Al Walid does not consider it sinful to provide money at interest (any of his banks does this).

Al Walid is also not alien to some of the traits inherent in his fellow Western billionaires. Lately, he's clearly keen to impress the world. His intention to build a 300 m high skyscraper with a top shaped like the eye of a needle in Riyadh is widely known. The latter, apparently, was designed only to fly through it on a jet plane. Moreover, Al Walid wants to do this himself.

The prince categorically refuses to interfere in politics. Indeed, among his partners there are many Jews, which is not typical for a Muslim. At the same time, it is known that the prince donated $27 million to the needs of Palestinians fighting against the occupation of lands seized by Israel. He did not stand aside from the assessment of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, making it clear that he considers America, which supports Israel, to be guilty of the causes of this tragedy. He said: “The US government must reconsider its Middle East policy and take a more balanced position towards the Palestinians.” At the same time, Al Waleed decided to donate $10 million to the people affected by the terrorist attack. Outraged, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani rejected the money, calling the prince's statement "completely irresponsible," "dangerous," and "unfriendly to American politics." In response, the prince reiterated his position, saying that "the United States must understand the causes and roots of terrorism and their connection with the Palestinian problem." Then he handed the New York City Hall a check for $10 million and said that he would not give another cent if he was refused again. According to a number of Western commentators, this whole story looks like blackmail on the part of the Saudi multimillionaire: after all, he is one of the largest investors in the US economy.

Al Walid created his empire in a very short term- in just 20 years. In business circles, this is explained by his penchant for risk, but justified risk. He buys shares of the world's leading corporations at a time when they are experiencing difficulties. At the same time, he acts very decisively, but always knows where and when to strike.

It is clear to everyone that Al Waleed has enormous personal wealth. As is usual in the business world, he answers questions about the origins of his enormous fortune in full accordance with the stereotypical American legend: “I achieved everything myself, through hard work, and I’m proud of it.” However, rumors are circulating in the business world that the entire royal family is behind the prince and does not want to advertise their participation in business ventures. This, however, remains unproven. Al Walid himself considers belonging to the Saudi dynasty a blessing from Allah, since it is the custodian of the two main shrines of Islam - Mecca, where the sacred stone of the Kaaba is kept, and Medina, where the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed is located.

More than anything else, the prince values ​​reliable information. Its skillful use is one of the main and real secrets of his success. Al Walid does not skimp on obtaining information. His team is about 400 people, on whose maintenance the prince spends $1 million a month. These top-class professionals accompany him always and everywhere, even during trips, creating a whole caravan of special vehicles - a very impressive spectacle.

The prince himself explains the reasons for his success very simply. In an interview with the correspondent of the French magazine “Paris-Match” Elisabeth Chavele, he said: “I work a lot when necessary - 15-20 hours in a row... And one more thing: if you are successful in business, then new business will come to you. I am religious and this is a valuable help for me. If you prosper thanks to Allah, then you must always remain humble and help the poor, otherwise Allah will punish you.”

Al Walid's high performance is confirmed by his daily routine. Every day he gets up at 10 a.m., then does fifteen minutes of exercise and has breakfast. From 11 to 16 hours he works in the office, from 16 to 17 - lunch and a short rest. From 7 pm to 2 am he works in the office again. The next three hours are devoted to exercise, jogging and swimming in the pool, lunch and prayer. The prince goes to bed at 5 o'clock in the morning. He despises sleep, considering these hours lost for business.

This person, more like a robot, is virtually never distracted by anything not related to work or maintaining performance. It’s not for nothing that he even considers business and only business his hobby.

The prince eats little and does not overindulge in delicacies. His self-characterization is known: “I am a calorie counter,” which means refusing everything that exceeds a certain norm that he has set for himself.

Al Walid’s personal life, according to the press, did not work out. He was married twice and both times unsuccessfully. Marriages ended in divorce. Apparently hinting at the Europeans’ belief that every rich Muslim should have a huge harem, the prince answers journalists’ questions that he has 100 wives and that their portraits adorn the walls of his office. However, these “portraits” depict the emblems of companies owned by the prince.

Al Waleed lives alone, but adores his children, nineteen-year-old Khaled and fifteen-year-old Reem. For them, he built a palace of 317 rooms and collected a collection of three hundred cars. He bought a luxurious blue Rolls-Royce especially for Rome.

The prince-businessman spends his leisure time on the French Riviera or in his own villa near the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, in the company of Bedouins. He and his friends drink the strongest Arabic coffee and, according to rumors, talk about eternity. But this does not prevent the prince from going through a short time again plunge into the fussy and tough world of business, very far from philosophy and thoughts about the divine destiny of man.

In 2012, Prince bought himself a plane for $485 million. This is an exclusive version of the Airbus 380 aircraft, nicknamed the “Flying Palace” for its luxury.

One of the richest people in the world, Saudi prince and businessman Al-Waleed bin Talal will receive the airliner in the very near future.

The three-story ship has conference and banquet halls, a five-room royal apartment, and a prayer room equipped with virtual prayer mats that automatically orient themselves in the direction of Mecca. A special elevator will take the owner to the lower floor, where the Rolls-Royce garage is located.

One of the richest people in the world, Saudi prince and businessman Al-Waleed bin Talal, will soon receive an exclusive version of the Airbus-380 aircraft he ordered for $485 million. The winged car was nicknamed the “Flying Palace” for its luxury.

The three-story airliner houses conference and banquet halls, a five-room royal apartment, and a prayer room. It is equipped with virtual prayer mats that automatically orient themselves in the direction of Mecca.

The interior of one of al-Walid's planes Photo: Waseem Obaidi / Getty Images

A special elevator will take the owner of the aircraft to the lower floor. There is a garage for a Rolls-Royce car there, RIA Novosti reports.

So far, the “Flying Palace” exists in a single copy.

However, Airbus hopes that the acquisition of the Palace by Prince bin Talal will be a good advertisement for this luxury aircraft, and orders for it will not be long in coming.

Interior of one of al-Waleed's planes, Photo: Waseem Obaidi/Getty Images

He owns a collection of 200 cars, which are painted in every color of the rainbow and are driven on a certain day of the week. By the way, the car garage is shaped like an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

He also has the world's largest truck, which has four bedrooms in the cab. Another giant car is a house on wheels; it is shaped like a globe, and its dimensions are exactly a millionth of the size of planet Earth.

Inside the largest private jet in the world there was room for a concert hall, a Turkish bath and even a beloved Rolls Royce. Imagine the perfect private jet - no lines, a big reclining seat, maybe a glass of chilled champagne. Trite?

Add four-poster beds, a Turkish bath for four people, and parking for a Rolls Royce. And this is all without mentioning the meeting room with projection screens and the concert hall on board.
Costing $500 million, the A380 was expected to be the world's largest private jet when completed.

The owner is unknown to the public, but they say he loves to fly. One of the possible owners is the Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal, owner of the Savoy hotel chain. The design is developed by the famous Design-Q agency. In a space typically designed to accommodate 600 passengers, the owner and his guests will enjoy five-star service throughout the journey. A personal car will naturally be parked at the highest level - right on the plane.

The elevator from the plane descends directly to the asphalt - stairways are a thing of the past. The ceremonial occasion is marked by a plethora of lights – “to give the impression of being ascended to Olympus,” says Design-Q co-founder Harry Doy.

The entire ground floor of the A380 has been transformed into a relaxation area, including a marble-clad hammam. True, to reduce weight, a stone two millimeters thick was used. Next door is the “positive room” - so it was called due to the fact that the walls and floor here have turned into a giant screen - a real royal view. Guests can stand on an improvised “magic carpet” and watch the landscape float by, moreover, even feel a light breeze, created artificially for greater effect.

If work is truly unavoidable, a meeting room is on hand, with iTouch screens and online stock quotes projected on the tables. For conference calls, a business partner on the ground can join the meeting via video conference at any time.

The set of royal needs is truly an imperial five:
- entertainment system,
- prayer room with a projection of Mecca in the middle,
- elevator shuttle,
- concert hall with a piano for 10 seats,
- as well as a garage.

There is also a small hotel inside - 20 first class beds for additional guests. According to the designers, they will be stylized to resemble the graceful curves and swirls of Arabic writing. The creators of this air palace themselves say: “We are not trying to put a hotel in the air, everything is created in accordance with the needs of flight, and has characteristic features that fit into the concept of air travel. The Turkish bath here is especially interesting - the steam room with marble and dim lighting helps to relax perfectly.”

The richest people in the world often delight themselves with pleasant “trifles.” Not long ago, Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan al-Nahyan came from the ruling dynasty of Abu Dhabi immortalized his name in an unusual way. He wrote it in kilometer-long letters, which can be seen even from space, on an island in Persian Gulf five kilometers from Abu Dhabi.

There is another famous Arab billionaire known in the world as the Rainbow Sheikh. To him owns a collection of 200 cars that are painted in all the colors of the rainbow and are operated on a specific day of the week. By the way, the car garage is shaped like an ancient Egyptian pyramid. He also has the world's largest truck, which has four bedrooms in the cab. Another giant car is a house on wheels; it is shaped like a globe, and its dimensions are exactly a millionth of the size of planet Earth.

Look here in more detail - the sheikh and

Let us now return again to our prince. Back in 2011, it became known that Kingdom Holding, owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, had signed a contract for the construction of a skyscraper in Saudi Arabia Kingdom Tower, the height of which will exceed 1000 meters.

The tallest skyscraper in the world - Kingdom Tower will rise more than 1 km. over the city of Jeddah, off the coast of the Red Sea. The tower will include hotels, residential apartments, offices and the world's tallest observation deck. Adrian Smith was appointed as the chief architect of the project; he also designed the Burj Khalifa, as well as a number of other skyscrapers in the USA, China and the UAE (see his website). Amount Prisoner Kingdom Holding The contract is valued at $1.2 billion. Kingdom Tower will be the central and first stage of construction of the area Kingdom City, in the construction of which the Saudi prince is ready to invest a total of $20 billion.

Azzam

Length (m) 180

Speed ​​in knots 30

Number of guests 22

The launch of the 180-meter boat took place in April 2013, now it is the largest yacht in the world, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse has lost its crown. A huge yacht capable of reaching a speed of 30 knots was built at the German Lurssen shipyard in record time- in just three years. Azzam cost the owner (rumored to be Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal) more than $600 million.

At the beginning of March 2013, Forbes published its annual ranking of the richest people on the planet. Often, it is from this list that businessmen find out how much their assets are worth in total. Moreover, not only the rich themselves, but the whole world will learn about this. Not all billionaires like this arrangement - many would prefer not to attract unnecessary attention. “Money loves silence,” businessmen often say, but one of the richest people on the planet, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, clearly disagrees with this. The Arab investor, ranked 26th in the 2013 Forbes ranking, claims that the magazine underestimated his wealth by a third - to twenty billion dollars.

Al-Walid's former employees told Forbes that Kingdom Holding's IPO was also for image purposes. “It's great to take the company public. They write a lot about you in the press,” one of his investors explained the investor’s motives. former employees. The Forbes rating is the main measure of success for the prince (as well as for the whole world). Al-Waleed regularly collaborated with the magazine, providing every opportunity to evaluate his assets.

In 2006, Forbes determined that al-Waleed's fortune had decreased by seven billion dollars due to the collapse of Kingdom Holding shares. Then the prince called editor Kerry Dolan and “almost in tears” asked her to check the value of his assets again, apparently hoping for a mistake and a higher place in the ranking.

This year, everything followed a similar scenario: the prince tried with all his might to prove that his condition should be assessed according to his own data. Meanwhile, the magazine's editors discovered one interesting pattern: shares of Kingdom Holding - the prince's key asset - rose in price for several years in a row 2.5 months before the publication of the billionaires ranking. Given the closed nature of the Saudi stock market and the small number of shares in free float (five percent), an investor could easily manipulate quotes, inflating his wealth. This information was confirmed to the publication by unnamed sources; The audit company Ernst & Young also drew attention to the discrepancy between the real value of assets and market quotes.

As a result, Forbes decided to focus on assessing al-Walid's underlying assets - shares in Four Seasons, Movenpick, Fairmont Raffles and other shares, as well as hotels and other real estate. Calculations showed that Kingdom Holding is worth $10.6 billion, that is, almost two times less than the capitalization calculated using market quotes. To this amount was added the value of assets not included in Kingdom Holding, as well as cars, planes, yachts and other luxury items. Ultimately, the publication decided that al-Walid’s fortune did not exceed $20 billion, and awarded him an honorable 26th place in the ranking.

A week before Forbes completed its calculations, the prince sent his financial director to the editorial office with instructions to achieve the “correct” assessment of his fortune at all costs - $29.6 billion. As a result, the editors decided to stick to their own calculations, which only changed al-Walid’s position in the ranking - even with 26th place, he remained the richest Arab.

In response, al-Walid accused Forbes of being biased by nationality and demanded to be excluded from the ranking. The prince said in a press release that the publication's team uses incorrect methods to calculate the value of assets and allows serious mistakes. In this regard, he decided to break all ties with Forbes.

The publication notes that none of the billionaires have made so much effort to inflate their fortune. Al-Walid's vanity played a cruel joke on him - if earlier the businessman's desire for ostentatious luxury was perceived as the norm, given his royal origin, now the prince clearly stands out even against the background of his noble compatriots.
or for example . And now not about politics: and one more thing The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -