Saudi prince to donate £20bn to charity

SAUDI ARABIA’S richest man yesterday said he intended to give his entire £20 billion fortune to charity.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the nephew of King Salman and owner of an international conglomerate of hotels, media and other companies, said he would hand the money over to his personal philanthropic foundation.

He said he was following in the footsteps of Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, who has donated vast sums to his Gates Foundation. However, the prince is going one step further in donating all his spare cash.

In a statement posted on his website, he said the money would promote intercultural understanding and “support needy communities, through health promotion, eradication of diseases, provision of electric power to remote villages and hamlets, building orphanages and schools, and much more, as well as providing disaster relief and empowering women, youth and poverty alleviation”.

Prince Alwaleed is a controversial and flamboyant character, who has followed his father Prince Talal – once labelled the “Red Prince” – in pursuing a liberal agenda.

He has appointed women to prominent positions in his companies, and encourages female employees not to wear the abaya, the traditional hooded gown of Gulf women, at work, let alone the “niqab” or full-face veil.

In February, he hosted the Prince of Wales to dinner on his ranch near Riyadh, an event at which, being private, many of his large number of women staff were able to dress in the latest designer outfits without head-scarves.