Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the distinguished founder and chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, a Saudi conglomerate, commands a staggering wealth of nearly $16.5 billion. As the grandson of Abdulaziz, the inaugural king of Saudi Arabia, he stands as one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and is the most prominent member of the Saudi royal family in the public eye.
This self-proclaimed “calorie counter” pairs his fixation on fitness with his immense fortune, holding substantial stakes in hotels, real estate, and equities that make the world his opulent playground.
Living in opulent palaces, jet-setting in extravagant private aircraft, and indulging in a lifestyle that rivals the grandeur of kings, the Menlo College graduate aptly dubs himself the “Warren Buffett of Arabia,” sans the crown but with everything else.
Early in his career, after earning a master’s degree with honors in social science from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1985, Prince Al Waleed returned to Saudi Arabia amidst an oil boom. Despite his royal lineage, success did not come effortlessly. Operating from a modest four-room cabin in Riyadh with a startup fund of $30,000 from his father, the 25-year-old entrepreneur established Kingdom Establishment.
His initial success came in 1982 when he collaborated with a South Korean construction company for an $8 million project to build a bachelors’ club near Riyadh. Reinvesting all earnings into real estate and the stock market, he accumulated significant wealth, with a net worth of $1.4 billion by 1989.
Prince Al-Waleed’s investment strategy focused on high-growth, high-risk ventures, evident in early 1990s investments such as Canary Wharf, Four Seasons Hotel Group, and News Corporation. His notable stakes in Citibank, Apple, TimeWarner, Motorola, 360buy, AOL, eBay, Euro Disney, and the second-largest ownership of Twitter through Kingdom Holding, which invested $3.4 billion in global equities and depositary receipts since 2020, have contributed to his remarkable $16.2 billion net worth.
While widely recognized for his luxury hotel collection, including George V in Paris and the Savoy in London, and co-ownership of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Company with billionaire Bill Gates, lesser-known is his 10 percent stake in Saks Fifth Avenue, acquired two decades ago for $100 million.
This uncrowned prince, cousin to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, resides in not one or two, but three stunning palaces. The crown jewel is Kingdom Palace in central Riyadh, a $130 million marvel adorned with 1,500 tons of Italian marble and boasting 435 rooms, although notably equipped with 250 TVs, leaving half the rooms without this modern luxury.
Four grand palace kitchens, staffed with skilled chefs, can whip up delicacies for 2000 people on just an hour’s notice, offering a diverse range of Arabic, Continental, and Asian cuisines. The opulent residence of the Kingdom Holding Co. founder features a lagoon-shaped pool and a 45-seat basement cinema, epitomizing luxury.
The second palace, Kingdom Resort, sprawls across 500,000 square feet in central Riyadh, boasting not one but three lakes nestled amid verdant gardens. The upcoming Kingdom Oasis, although smaller than its predecessors, promises to be equally impressive, covering 4,000,000 square feet with a sprawling 17-acre lake and a private zoo.
Beyond palatial abodes, the Arab billionaire envisioned a residential development on a vast 4,000 acres of land on the outskirts of Riyadh. This ambitious project included the iconic Kingdom Tower, with a budget of $10 billion, set to surpass the height of four Empire State Buildings stacked atop each other, towering at 3,281 feet. The now-stalled project, renamed Jeddah Tower, would have claimed the title of the world’s tallest if completed.
Seafaring in unparalleled style, the Arabian Warren Buffet navigates the high seas aboard the $325 million luxury yacht, Kingdom 5KR. This 282-foot vessel, purchased from Donald Trump, is a luxurious 1980 Classic Yacht, named after Kingdom Holdings, the investor’s lucky number 5, and the initials of two of his children. Housing 22 guests in 11 staterooms, attended to by 31 crew members, the yacht’s interiors boast lush chamois leather and bird’s-eye maple paneling. Lavish features include gold and onyx-adorned bathrooms, a saloon, an office, a sauna, three elevators, a helideck, a cinema, and an 800-film library. Notably, it also houses a well-equipped hospital with an operating room, ensuring the prince’s health is never at risk, even during prolonged stays, as six massive refrigerators carry a three-month food supply for 100 people.
Accompanied by a notable entourage of 26 individuals, the prince’s posse is not the largest globally but certainly commands attention. From yachts and events to communal dinners, the entourage includes a private physician, a palace assistant manager, a private assistant, an executive assistant, a personal affairs manager, two personal affairs assistants, a protocol department manager, and a travel and external affairs manager.
Meanwhile, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Boeing Business Jet 2 is reportedly valued at Rs 603 crore. Gautam Adani, of the Adani Group, boasts ownership of several private aircraft, including the Hawker Beechcraft 850XP, Embraer Legacy 650, and Bombardier Challenger 605 models.
On the other hand, Ratan Tata, part of the Tata Group, possesses the Dassault Falcon 2000, one of the most expensive private jet models valued at over Rs 200 crore. Noteworthy, other global billionaires such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos also navigate the skies in their privately owned jets.
