One of Saudi Arabia’s biggest visionaries and businessmen, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal is an inspiration to millions of businessmen out there who wish to sustain a family business and take it further beyond the realms of imagination.
Born in Jeddah, he is the head of The Kingdom Holding Company and is one of the most influential people in the world, according to Time- a testament to his personality and business ethics.He is mainly known as the chief executive officer of the KHC and through his hard work and effort, the company had emerged as a leader in various sectors in the Saudi Arabian kingdom, including banking and finance, hotel management, mass media, entertainment, retail and agriculture to name a few. Apart from this, he is also the owner of some of the world’s best known hotels and production companies, including the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris and the second-largest voting shareholder of 21st Century Fox.
Early Career
Initially, Al-Waleed was a troublesome child as he had not come to terms with his parents’ separation. His father was the finance minister of Saudi Arabia in the early 60’s. Prince moved to Lebanon with his mother after they separated. It was here that he would run away from home to sleep in the back of unlocked cars. His mother then decided to enrol him in a military school in Riyadh. He adopted a strict disciplinary code while he was there and continues to abide by them even today.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Menlo University in California before obtaining his master’s degree in Social Science from the Syracuse University.
His story of riches began when he moved back to Saudi after his degree and was lucky to be caught up in the middle of the oil boom during 1974-1985, during which he got a large number of construction contracts which helped him amass a great fortune.He then turned the fortunes of the United Saudi Commercial Bank around by forming mergers. Bin Talal rose to prominence however, when he bailed out Citicorp during the early 90’s with an investment of close to $550 million. Now, his shares are worth a billion dollars, a testament to his smart investing and excellent market analysis.
He is also known to be a very friendly man and has made a lot of donations to charitable causes around the world. Such is his work in philanthropy that he has donated close to $50 million for charity.
"If I'm going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I don't do it at all." - Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud
Today, he remains one of the most respected businessmen, not only in Saudi, but all over the world. His economic reforms have helped transform his under-performing company to one of the best in the world.
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