Prince Alwaleed to give away $32 billion
Billionaire is world’s 20th richest person
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has pledged to give away his estimated entire US$32 billion (about 1.1 trillion baht) fortune over the coming years.
The donation represents all of his money, according to Prince Alwaleed. The billionaire is the world’s 20th richest person with $30.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The prince gave no time frame during which the funds would be disbursed, but he said he had formed a board of trustees to choose projects and oversee them.
The gift would benefit Muslim and nonMuslim countries, Prince Alwaleed said in Riyadh yesterday.
He said t he funds would go to his charity, Alwaleed Philanthropies, for causes such as disease eradication, intercultural understand -ing, women’s empowerment, disaster relief and the electrification of isolated areas. He hoped the gift would build a “better world of tolerance, acceptance, equality and opportunity for all”.
In the past 35 years, Prince Alwaleed’s charity has invested in $3.5 billion worth of projects in more than 92 countries and has supported study centres at a number of top universities. He said the charity has distributed houses and provided electricity to isolated Saudi communities.
The prince said he announced his pledge now, after years of preparation, to institutionalise the process “so they can continue after my lifetime”. Flanked by his son Prince Khaled and daughter Princess Reem, he said they will be president and vice-president of the charity after he dies.
“I believe that a person should take dramatic and drastic decisions at his peak,” Prince Alwaleed said, proclaiming himself to be in good shape.
Prince Alwaleed, 60, a nephew of King Salman, holds no official position in the Saudi government and is often seen as an outsider. He is known for giving relatively frank interviews on financial and political issues that sometimes rankle officials in the normally tight-lipped kingdom.
And in the only country in the world where women are barred from driving, Prince Alwaleed employs many women, who are allowed to dress as they wish.
Prince Alwaleed’s pledge came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He described the move as guided by his Islamic faith. “With this pledge, I am honouring my lifelong commitment to what matters most — helping to build a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world for generations to come,” he said.
Prince Alwaleed is the richest person in Saudi Arabia and his wealth has risen by $3.4 billion, 12.7%, this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
His philanthropy unit has been working with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Carter Centre to strengthen healthcare and control epidemics.
Prince Alwaleed said Bill Gates was supportive of the giveaway. Since Mr Gates and Warren Buffett announced the Giving Pledge in 2010, about 200 individuals from around the world have promised to give away more than half of their fortune in life or death.
Mr Gates and Mr Buffett are the two richest US citizens and worth $151 billion combined, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They have put more than $46 billion into the Gates foundation.
Prince Alwaleed’s pledge will not affect any of the investments or future projects of Kingdom Holding Co, his primary investment vehicle, he said, but his charitable commitment would provide even more incentive for his business investments to be profitable.
As well as media stakes, Kingdom Holding has interests ranging from the Euro Disney theme park to Four Seasons hotels and Citigroup, while Prince Alwaleed is constructing a tower in the Red Sea city of Jeddah that is to rise more than 1km, to be the world’s tallest building.