Saudi’s Warren Buffett opens Kingdom to the public

Introducing Arabia’s Warren Buffett, 51-year-old Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud. According to The Business Online, this shrewd Saudi investor has the largest United States portfolio held by any foreign individual. As a 31-year-old stock market novice, he turned his £800m investment in Citigroup into a holding worth $10bn within a couple of years. For many that wad would have been large enough to say: “Sod it, I’m off to play golf for the rest of my life and live in the Cote d’Azur.” But not this young man.

He went on to rescue Euro Disney in Paris from almost certain bankruptcy. He’s since bought London’s Savoy Hotel, Fairmont Hotels, the Four Seasons, and the George V Hotel in Paris which he has restored to its former glory. He has also invested heavily in Apple Computer and has sizeable stakes in News Corporation, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Amazon.com, eBay, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ford, Motorola and Canary Wharf.

In fact, his $23bn investment portfolio reads like a list from the FORTUNE 100. Today, he is the largest individual foreign investor in the United States. He is reckoned to be the world’s second largest richest man.

For the second time this year Prince Alwaleed is planning to go public – this time through a listing of his main investment company, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC). The listing, being planned by US investment bank Citigroup and Samba, a Saudi Arabian company, is expected to take place within the next month or two. About 30% of KHC will be floated raising around $7bn.

Earlier this year he floated his hospitality company, Kingdom Hotels Corporation, in London and Dubai, so he’s not short of a riyal or two.

While many members of the Arab superrich club get their excitement from horse racing or gambling at the world’s top casinos, Prince Alwaleed gets his from dealmaking.

He has come to be admired internationally not only for his investment acumen, but equally for his hard working lifestyle – he sleeps only five hours a night – and for his probity. Unlike most Saudi royals, his wealth has not been gained from oil or inheritance. Prince Alwaleed is a self-made billionaire.