Prince Alwaleed Ranked Richest Arab by Arabian Business with Net worth $21.3BN

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, tops Arabian Business Magazine’s 2011 50 Richest Arab List for eight consecutive years with a net worth of $21.3 billion.

The magazine stated: “The last twelve months saw the Prince consolidate his position as the world’s richest Arab, with his fortune rising up to $21.3 billion.”  During a previous interview with Arabian Business Prince Alwaleed commented: “There’s no limit for success. Success is achievement. There is no top. The moment you reach the top you go downhill. If you reach the top of the hill what happens next? You have to go down. I am not planning to go down. As far as I am concerned, you can never reach the top of the hill.”   Prince Alwaleed was also ranked among the most influential figures in the Arab media from The Arab Media Forum, according to a survey that was published for more than five hundred media and news from various Arab countries.

HH Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel attended the 6th Board of Trustees of the Silatech Foundation chaired by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser in Tunisia. The members discussed the achievements of Silatech in 2011 and the important programs and projects that encourage youth employment in the region especially during the current circumstances in the Arab world.  Silatech was founded in January 2008 by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Princess Ameerah commented: “I am very proud of Silatech’s accomplishments and look forward to their future advancement under the great management of Dr. Yousef and the guidance of the board. Silatech is an exceptional initiative, very unique in the Arab region. I am honored to be part of Silatech, led by the inspirational chairwoman HH Sheikha Moza.

Business

Kingdom Holding Company announced the commencement of the construction of Kingdom Riyadh Land real estate Riyadh project. Prince Alwaleed commented: “Riyadh mega project will bring promising returns to Kingdom Holding investors.”

Kingdom Holding Company announced the Company’s financial results of operations for the fourth quarter and the twelve months ended December 31, 2011.  The Company announced the consolidated net income for twelve months totaled SR 639.6 million, an increase of 5.7% over last year. The Company is continuing to experience improving results from its hotel management companies and its owned hotels and associate companies and income on investments. A board meeting was held to outline and to fortify KHC’s diversified investment strategy, long term vision for growth and development, and for future prospective investment opportunities.  Prince Alwaleed commented: “Kingdom Holding enters the year 2012 with solid optimism, and continues to distribute dividends.”

An announcement of a $50 million investment into First Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited FHN in Nigeria was made by Prince Alwaleed. The transaction was through the second Kingdom Zephyr fund, PAIP II FHN that was established in 2009 to capitalize on the exceptional opportunities for indigenous Nigerian involvement in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. 

Prince Alwaleed in the presence of HE Mr. John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, inaugurated the $120 million Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. The event was attended by HH Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, Vice Chairwoman of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation and Mr. Sarmad Zok, Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Hotel Investments. The hotel is considered a national and historic landmark.

New Appointments

Prince Alwaleed headed a meeting with Board Members of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation at his offices in Riyadh. During the meeting the foundation the board of trustees has approved assigning Eng. Nadia Bakhurji as Secretary General to Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation.  Princess Ameerah commented: “Eng. Nadia Bakhurji has been appointed as Secretary General of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. She has been chosen for her passion for the field of philanthropy and her successful leadership background.”

Prince Alwaleed announced the appointment of Eng. Rasha Amer El-Hoshan as an independent board member and a member in KHC’s audit committee. 

Eng. Rasha Hoshan is the General Manager of Hoshan Furniture; she is also an executive committee member and a board member of Hoshan Group. Eng. Rasha holds M.S in interior design and Bachelors in Political Science. Prince Alwaleed commented: “Eng. Rasha’s experience will add value to Kingdom Holding Company.”

Sport

Prince Alwaleed congratulated HRH Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal Bin Fahad Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, General President of Youth Welfare of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee for the national team’s outstanding performance in the 12th Pan Arab Games which was concluded in Doha, Qatar in December 2011 under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar. The Saudi team came in 6th place in a fierce competition with 21 Arab countries with a total of 45 medals in different competitions. Prince Alwaleed presented SR780,000 as a gift to the 52 team members who earned the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Prince Alwaleed also congratulated His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the government and the people of Bahrain for the national team gold medal victory in the 12th football championship of the Arab Games in Qatar. Prince Alwaleed presented $10,000 as a gift to each team member and stressed the importance of supporting sports and athletes in the GCC countries.

Support

The Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation supported the Search for Common Ground (SFCG) program entitled: “The Nexus: Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship”. The Alwaleed Foundation granted $50,000 to the event in line with the Foundation’s focus on supporting education, vocational and youth training programs. Princess Ameerah commented: “We are proud of the support provided by Alwaleed Foundation to the program; the Foundation works to support youth education and training as they are an effective element to society.”

The Foundation also donated $250,000 to Global Fund for Children (GFC), for the Street Children in India project. The Global Fund for Children’s mission is to advance the dignity of children and youth around the world. GFC pursues its mission by making small grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth.

Prince Alwaleed and Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel visited Qatar recently and were received by HH Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Saud Al Thani, Qatari Prime Minister. Prince Alwaleed and Princess Ameerah attended the 4th Charity Gala Dinner “Reach out to Asia” (ROTA) with HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation on behalf of HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar. The Alwaleed Foundation donated SR7 million during the occasion for their core operations for the building of schools in rural and poor areas in Asia.

On another occasion the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation in partnership with The Ministry of Labor announced the launching of the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Unemployment Awareness TV Campaign” campaign. Rotana was the first company approached by MOL to support this initiative. Prince Alwaleed commented: “Significantly advancing Saudi youth employment continues to be one of the Foundation’s ultimate goals.” 

The Alwaleed Foundation donated $55,360 to the Maldivian Thalassemia Society, Maldives. Eng Nadia Bakhurji is the Secretary General of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. The Alwaleed Foundation’s grant was for the Capacity Building with the Maldivian Thalassaemia Society project “Prevention and Improved Management of Thalassaemia”. The society’s purpose is to improve lives of Thalassemic in the Maldives.

Prince Alwaleed received at his office in Riyadh HE Dr. Mohamed Ould Mohamed Ould Abah, Ambassador of Mauritania to Saudi Arabia and HE Mr. Saudi Aljabri, Saudi Ambassador to Mauritania. Prince Alwaleed announced a donation through the Alwaleed Foundation of $500,000 to support the UN World Food Program (WFP) to assist the Mauritanian people who are suffering from a drought that has affected the country.

Princess Ameerah was on a recent visit Ghana where she visited the Alwaleed School and was given a tour of the school by HE Mrs. Juliana Azuma Mensah, Minister for Women and children’s Affairs. During the Princess’s trip she also visited the Noghuchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and was given a tour by Minister Mensah. The Foundation had donated $600,000 to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research towards a clinical research facility for AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition.

Princess Ameerah Al–Taweel, Vice Chairwoman of Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation attended the Turquoise Mountain Fundraising Dinner on behalf of Alwaleed Foundation. The event was held at Clarence House and hosted by HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales. During the event Princess Ameerah announced a donation of £1 million, through the Alwaleed Foundation, to Turquoise Mountain towards an endowment that will sustain Turquoise Mountain Foundation over 15 years. In recognition to this and previous support, a building will be named after “HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud”. The institute sits in the heart of the Old City. It is made up of buildings with nearly 200 years of history, and which represents the history and culture of Afghanistan.

Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel was also the main sponsor of Re’ayat Alkhair event that was held at Four Seasons Riyadh recently. The Re’ayat Alkhair event was part of the National Home Health Care Foundation-based in Riyadh that works to develop health care services for patients with serious health conditions. Various local and regional entities including Lebanon participated in the event that comprised of business women. The proceeds of the exhibition were allocated for the support of its 2000 patients in government and private hospitals in Riyadh and surrounding areas. This catered for medicine, health facilities, and treatment in addition to creating health awareness for patients and their families. The event was inaugurated by the spouse of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, H.H Princess Hessa Bint Trad Al-Shaalan President of The National Home Health Care Foundation.

The Foundation has also recently made a donation of SR 300,000 to the Ibsar Foundation which has a program that supports training and rehabilitating the blind. The program is focused on rehabilitating 50 men and women with a university education who could not find jobs due to their disability or who have lost their jobs due to total or partial blindness and vision impairment.

Meetings

Prince Alwaleed received in his office in Riyadh HE Mr. Neil Hawkins, Australian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The Ambassador relayed cordial regards from the Australian government. The two discussed regional and international developments and discussed investment opportunities in Australia. The Ambassador extended an invitation to His Highness to visit Australia.

Prince Alwaleed received Mr. Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at Kingdom Resort. The meeting was attended by HH Princess Ameerah. During the meeting the two discussed the latest developments in both KHC and Microsoft, KHC’s international investments including the Four Seasons which is co-owned by Bill Gates’ Cascade. Also, the two discussed potential collaboration between Alwaleed Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Prince Alwaleed has held a number of significant meetings at his office in Riyadh in recent months. The meetings involved issues related to their respective countries, local, regional and the global economic issues as well as philanthropic issues and HRH’s investments.  Meetings have been held with H.E. Shaukat Aziz Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Martin Brian Mulroney former Canadian Prime Minister, HE Mr. Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister of Singapore and Senior Advisor to Monetary Authority of Singapore who was on an official trip to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,  HE Sheikh Humoud Bin Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahraini Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, HE Pablo Bravo, Spanish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia relaying cordial regards from His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain,  HE Major General Marwan bin Abdulhamid Zein, outgoing Lebanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and His Excellency Mr. Yang Hong Lin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of People’s Republic of China to Saudi Arabia and HE Mr. Garba Aminchi Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Prince Alwaleed and HH Princess Ameerah Al–Taweel recently visited and held high meetings with a number of national leaders to discuss a number of social, philanthropic and economic issues. The tour and visits included HE Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Republic of Nigeria at the Presidential Palace, HE Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania and the First Lady Mrs. Salma R. Kikwete at the Presidential palace, HE Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Qatar’s Foreign Affairs and HE John Atta-Mills, the President of the Republic of Ghana at the Castle Osu.

Prince Alwaleed was recently awarded the Highest Honorary medal (the Republic Medal, First Degree) by the HE Sudanese President Omar Albashir during his recent visit to the capital Khartoum.