Here's more about Alwaleed bin Talal -- the Saudi Prince at the centre of an anti-graft purge

Moneycontrol News

Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was one of the 17 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers detained in an anti-corruption purge in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The arrests were carried out by an anti-corruption committee chaired by the Kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The committee was created just a day earlier following a royal decree from King Salman.

Media reports suggest the move could further tighten the grip of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the oil-rich Kingdom's internal affairs.

Perhaps, the most shocking name was that of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a famous personality known worldwide, and also one of Saudi Arabia's most prominent businessmen.

Prince Alwaleed is the Founder and Chairman of The Kingdom Holding Company and has had investments in Citibank, Twitter, Apple and Rotana Group among others.

According to Forbes, Prince Alwaleed's net worth is currently around USD 17.2 billion.

About Prince Alwaleed

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was born in 1955 to Saudi Arabia's then Finance Minister and daughter of Lebanon's first Prime Minister. Prince Alwaleed is the grandson of King Ibn Saud, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Following his parents' separation, the young Prince lived with his mother in Lebanon and later moved to California, United States to complete his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration at Menlo College. He then went to Syracuse University in New York to complete his Master's degree with honours in social science.

The Kingdom Holding Company

Upon completing his education, Prince Talal returned to Saudi Arabia at a time when the Kingdom's economy was undergoing an 'oil boom'.

The young Prince set up a construction and real estate business in Riyadh and within three years found himself on the Forbes list.

He bought the United Saudi Commercial Bank and merged it with Saudi Cairo Bank and the Saudi American Bank to form the Middle Eastern bank.

In 1991, Prince Talal bought a substantial stake in Citigroup and later bailed out Citibank's American real-estate and Latin American business-loan portfolios. At that point, Prince Alwaleed's investment in Citigroup was worth USD 1 billion.

By 1997, Prince Alwaleed had picked up a five percent stake in News Corporation and had made significant investments in AOL, Fox Broadcasting, Apple, Motorola, among others, in the following years.

The 62-year-old prince's holdings have included stakes in the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and New York's Plaza Hotel, London's Savoy Hotel and Monaco's Monte Carlo Grand Hotel.

Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company has contracted the Saudi Bin Laden Group to construct the world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The company describes itself as a 'diversified investment company' with main interests in financial services, real estate, tourism and hospitality, media, entertainment, petrochemicals, aviation and technology.

Today, the Holding Company has stakes in Time Warner, News Corporation, Euro Disney SCA which operates Disneyland Paris, Fairmont Raffles Holdings International, Twitter, AOL, Apple, Motorola, number of hotels, among others.

Philanthropy

The Prince is also known for his philanthropy. He had donated USD 17 million to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Following the September 11 attacks, Alwaleed gave a cheque of USD 10 million to New York's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, despite opposition from Saudi Arabia. However, Giuliani returned his cheque after the prince's statement calling United States to re-examine its policies in the West Asia and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestine-caused outrage.

In June 2005, the prince announced his intention to donate USD 32 billion to various philanthropic causes.