Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud Biography | Age, Net Worth And Family

Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud is a Saudi prince, investor, and businessman who is the founder and chairman of Kingdom Holding Company. He has a long history of investing across the Arab world in banking, hotels, and media/technology, making his personal fortune one of the most closely watched in the region and earning him the nickname ‘Warren Buffett of Arabia’ from the financial press.

Al Waleed was born on March 7th, 1955, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is a nephew of several of its monarchs and grandson of the nation’s founding king. He is a four-time married man, father of two children, and a former member of the Saudi anti-corruption probe in 2017, which removed him from Forbes’ billionaire list in 2025. Here are a few details about who he is, when his major events were, and how his family, career, and net worth are faring into 2026. 

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Early Life and Education

Who Is Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud?

Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud is a member of the House of Saud, the family of the founding monarch of the kingdom, Ibn Saud, as well as the nephew of several kings, including the late King Abdullah. He is best known as the founder, chairman, and biggest shareholder of Kingdom Holding Company, one of the region’s biggest investment conglomerates.

When and Where Was He Born?

Born in Riyadh on March 7, 1955. His father, Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz, was a very liberal-minded prince and known as the “Red Prince” for his political engagement, and his mother, Mona El-Solh, was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Lebanon, Riad Al Solh. He lived a great part of his childhood in Riyadh and Beirut. 

How Was He Educated?

Al Waleed went to military school in Riyadh and later to the United States, where he graduated from Menlo College, California, in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. In 1985, he finished his Masters Degree in Social Science at Syracuse University, New York. 

Career and Business Empire

How Did He Start His Business Career?

In 1979, he established his own privately owned business, Kingdom Establishment for Trading and Contracting, which was started with approximately $30,000 that his father gave him and a property in Riyadh that he could borrow against. He used his first deal’s profits to invest in Riyadh real estate, and the company expanded and became the group that, in 199,6 became known as Kingdom Holding Company. 

What Is Kingdom Holding Company Today?

Kingdom Holding Company is now a Riyadh-headquartered, publicly listed conglomerate with interests in banking, hospitality, media, real estate, aviation and technology. Its chairman and biggest shareholder, Al Waleed, has cut his stake by about 17% since 2022, when he sold a minority interest to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, to around 78%. 

What Are His Major Investments?

• A key 1991 investment in Citicorp, which was subsequently Citigroup, that ended up ballooning to be a multi-billion-dollar investment and is frequently cited as his signature investment.
• Long-term positions in Twitter (now X) and personal and Kingdom Holding stakes related to Elon Musk’s xAI and SpaceX.
• Stakes in Four Seasons Hotels, the Savoy in London, Rotana Media Group, Snap, ap and others. 

How Did the 2008 Financial Crisis Affect Him?

The worldwide financial meltdown also battered Al Waleed’s Citigroup unit, which took billions of dollars in subprime losses beginning in 2007. In early 2008, along with other investors, he contributed to the recapitalization of Citigroup; however, another US government bailout in early 2009 diluted preferred shareholders’ status, including Al Waleed, and significantly reduced the paper value of his stake for several years. 

What Happened During the 2017 Ritz-Carlton Detention?

Al Waleed was one of over 300 high-ranking Saudis detained in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in November 2017 in an anti-corruption campaign ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He was released in late January 2018 after about three months, saying that he had settled with the government, though he hasn’t revealed the terms of the settlement, and that he did nothing wrong. 

What Is His Connection to Twitter and X?

Since the initial privatization of Twitter by Elon Musk in 2022, and the rebranding to X in 2023, Al Waleed has maintained his share of Twitter. In addition to the newer Kingdom Holding bets on Musk-related companies, it’s still among his most lastingholdings, and has been among the most often referenced ones in his portfolio.

Net Worth

How Much Is Al Waleed Bin Talal Worth in 2026?

InForbes Middle East’s April 2026s 2026 Richest Arabs list, he was ranked the wealthiest Arab with a net worth of $19.9 billion, compared with $16.5 billion on the list the previous year. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index and Forbes’ own list of the world’s richest people have yielded slightly different numbers during the same time span, as each index employed its own valuation date and different valuation process for his private Kingdom Holding stake. 

How Did His Net Worth Change Over the Years?

When Al Waleed was at his peak, his wealth was estimated to be $30 billion or so, making him one of the top ten richest persons in the world. After the 2017 detention and the resulting settlement, his wealth plummeted, and Forbes pulled him from its worldwide rankings altogether in 2018. His valuation has been steadily rising since his return to the Forbes list in 2025, as Saudi Arabia moves back onto the list. 

What Are His Major Assets?

Perhaps his most significant investment is his majority holding in Kingdom Holding Company, along with direct and indirect stakes in Citigroup, X, Snap, Rotana, and hospitality assets, like the Savoy and Four Seasons brands. Kingdom Holding has also revealed increases in valuations on its investments related to SpaceX for 2026. 

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Family

Who Are His Parents?

His father, Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was finance minister of Saudi Arabia until the 1960s, when he went into exile for his backing of political reform and subsequently returned to the kingdom, where he continued to champion social issues. Al Waleed was born to a Lebanese mother, Mona El-Solh, who was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Lebanon, Riad Al Solh. 

Who Is His First Wife?

At the age of 19, Al Waleed married his cousin, Princess Dalal bint Saud, daughter of the late King Saud, in 1976. This is the only marriage he has had with children, as the couple divorced in December 1994 with two children. 

Who Are His Other Wives?

Since his first divorce, Al Waleed has been married thrice. He was briefly married in 1996 to Princess Iman Sudairi; from 1999 to 2004 he was married to Kholood Al Anazi, and then from 2008 to 2013-2014 he was married to Saudi philanthropist Ameera Al Taweel. 

How Many Children Does He Have?

He is the father of two children, both from his first marriage: Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed, born in 1978, an entrepreneur, investor, and promoter of the vegan lifestyle, and Princess Reem bint Alwaleed, born in 1982. 

Awards and Recognition

What Recognition Has He Received?

One of Alwaleed’s most widely verified honors was his selection in 2008 to Time magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential People” list. Saudi and regional sources list many other honorary citizenships, medals, and university awards he has received over the years, but this list is more difficult to verify and verify independently and is subject to variation based on sources.

How Is He Viewed in Global Business Media?

Often referred to in the financial press as the “Arabian Warren Buffett,” this long-hold style of investing in public stocks marked him as a contrarian. He has also been a regular commentator on business television and a vocal commentator on Middle East investment trends and technology, and at times U.S. politics, including being a vocal critic of Donald Trump over social media during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Philanthropy and Public Life

What Is Alwaleed Philanthropies?

His worldwide charitable foundation, called Alwaleed Philanthropies, supports education, healthcare, disaster relief, and cross-cultural programs. He offered to one day give away her personal assets to charitable causes as the foundation in 2015. 

What Causes Does He Support?

Its giving is not confined to a single country, but extends across dozens of countries and is complemented

by university, hospital, and disaster-relief programs, all of which Al Waleed has called “maximizing

impact per dollar donated.

• Empowerment programs for women, such as Saudi Arabia’s first woman pilots.
• A range of disaster relief and humanitarian support activities in several countries.
• Education and healthcare institutions, which have historically given in Lebanon via family foundations.

How Much Has He Donated Over the Years?

He has donated over $3.5 billion through Alwaleed Philanthropies in more than 100 countries in more than three decades. He also donated $10 million to New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but the then-mayor, Rudy Giuliani, returned the money because Alwaleed connected the gesture to his views on Middle East policy in the United States, a move that was widely reported at the time. 

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Where Does He Stand Today?

What Is His Role at Kingdom Holding Now?

Having divested from the company in 2022 to the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund, Al Waleed’s personal stake has been lowered from a near 95% to a present figure of 78%. As markets shift, the public announcements that Kingdom Holding has made since 2026 indicate ongoing investments in technology companies, as well as its traditional hotel and real estate interests. 

How Does He Compare to Other Saudi Royals?

Al Waleed’s wealth is not as closely associated with a state job or the oil sector as many of the other senior royals in Saudi Arabia, and analysts often differentiate between them when determining the ranks of royal wealth in the kingdom. His comeback to the Forbes list in 2025 and the estimated net worth of $19.9 billion in 2026 sparked new interest in his past more than 40 years ago. 

Legacy and Influence

What Is His Legacy in Middle East Business?

Al Waleed is widely considered to have proven that a Gulf royal can create wealth on a sustained basis by investing in shares of private companies, not just on the back of state contracts or oil revenues. His many years of investment in Citigroup and technology stocks remain a paragon of patient and contrarian investing in business schools and the Gulf financial media, and the Kingdom Holding structure has been seen as a blueprint for other regional conglomerates’ cross-sector portfolios. 

How Is He Remembered in Popular Culture?

In addition to his financial interests, Al Waleed is well known in the world of media reporting on the wealth of the Gulf, royal intrigues, and, occasionally, celebrity-related business news, thanks to his hotel and entertainment properties. He has been a regular talking point in his public feuds on social media, and when outlets list the richest people in the world or profile the Saudi business elite, he is always in the mix.

Over the years, his investment memoirs and numerous interviews have also made him one of the more approachable Gulf royals to the Western financial media, unlike his more guarded public image. That’s helped make him one of the most referenced Saudi businessmen in international reports on the economy of the region over the decades he has been cited in the lists of billionaires. 

Final Thoughts

In the case of Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud, the tale is one of royal privilege and real business risk-taking and is one of the Gulf’s most closely watched fortunes. His journey from early investment with Citicorp to a much-talked-about arrest and release extends to the ongoing redefining of Saudi wealth and influence in 2026 and beyond. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud?

He is a Saudi royal, billionaire investor, and philanthropist who founded and chairs Kingdom Holding Company. 

When was Al Waleed Bin Talal born?

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 7, 1955.

How old is Al Waleed Bin Talal in 2026?

He is 71 years old in 2026.

Who are Al Waleed Bin Talal’s parents?

His father is Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and his mother is Mona El-Solh, daughter of Lebanon’s first prime minister.

How much is Al Waleed Bin Talal worth?

He was ranked as the richest Arab by Forbes Middle East at number 25 with a net worth of $19.9 billion. 

How did Al Waleed Bin Talal make his fortune?

He made his fortune through early real estate investments and long-term stock investments, such as his 1991 purchase of Citicorp through Kingdom Holding Company. 

What is Kingdom Holding Company?

It is the investment conglomerate he established in 1979 as a private trading company in Riyadh, which became Kingdom Holding Company in 1996. 

Who is Al Waleed Bin Talal’s wife?

He has been married four times: to his cousin Princess Dalal bint Saud and, most recently, to Ameera Al-Taweel. 

How many children does Al Waleed Bin Talal have?

He is a father to two children from his first marriage, Prince Khaled and Princess Reem. 

Why was Al Waleed Bin Talal detained in 2017?

He was detained at Saudi’s Riyadh Ritz-Carlton as part of Saudi’s anti-corruption campaign, and released in January 2018. 

What companies has Alwaleed bin Talal invested in?

He has owned shares of Citigroup, Twitter (now known as X), Four Seasons, Rotana, Snap, and portions of xAI and SpaceX. 

What is Alwaleed Philanthropies?

It is his worldwide philanthropic organization, dedicated to education, health, disaster relief, and women’s empowerment projects.