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Business interests
Al-Waleed began his business career in 1979 upon graduation
from Menlo College. The Prince's activities as an investor
came to prominence when he bought a substantial tranche of
shares in Citicorp in the 1990s when that firm was in
difficulties. With an initial investment of $550 million
($2.98 a share after adjusting for stock splits,
acquisitions and spin-offs, according to Bloomberg
calculations) to bail out Citibank caused by underperforming
American real estate loans and Latin American businesses,
his holdings in Citigroup now comprise for about $1 billion.
His investments in Citibank earned him the title of Saudi
Warren Buffett.
Although his stake in Citibank once accounted for
approximately half of his wealth, by January 2009. At the
end of 1990 he bought 4.9% of Citicorp’s existing common
shares for $207m ($12.46 per share)—the most that he could
without being legally obliged to declare his interest. In
February 1991, as American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia
were preparing for war with Iraq, the prince spent $590m
buying new preferred shares, convertible into common shares
at $16 each. This amounted to a further 10% of Citicorp and
took his stake to 14.9%.[3] In January 2008, the Prince
participated—together with the Singapore government
investment corporation and other investors—in a $12.5
Billion capital raise, in an unsuccessful effort to shore up
Citi's capital position, but the value of these shares
continued to plunge.
Later, he also made large investments in AOL, Apple Inc.,
MCI Inc., Motorola, News Corporation Ltd and other
technology and media companies.
His real estate holdings have included large stakes in the
Four Seasons hotel chain and the Plaza Hotel in New York. He
sold half of his shares in the latter in August 2004. He has
made investments in London's Savoy Hotel and Monaco's Monte
Carlo Grand Hotel. He currently holds a 10% stake in Euro
Disney SCA, the organization which manages and maintains the
Disneyland Resort Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France.
In January 2005, Al-Waleed purchased the Savoy Hotel in
London for an estimated GBP £250 million, to be managed by
Fairmont Hotels, in which Al-Waleed owns an estimated 16%
stake. In January 2006, in partnership with the U.S. real
estate firm Colony Capital, Kingdom Holding acquired
Toronto, CA-based Fairmont Hotels for an estimated $3.9
billion.
As of 2008, there are plans for the $10 billion construction
of the Tallest Building in the World, a supertall skyscraper
to be the tallest in the world, at one mile (1609 m) in
height.
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