Sunday, 24 February 2013

Prince Alwaleed rejected Facebook IPO - Telegraph.co.uk

Prince Alwaleed, described as "the Warren Buffett of Arabia", owns 95pc of Kingdom Holding. Its investments span 13 industries from real estate to aviation, including sizeable stakes in News Corp, Citigroup, Glencore and Apple.

The portfolio's stock has risen 147pc over the past 12 months, with Q2 net profits up 9.4pc on the same period last year to Saudi Arabian Riyal 178.9m (£29.5m).

Combined with his personal assets – which include an 80pc stake in media conglomerate Rotana – Prince Alwaleed's total wealth climbed to $25.9bn over the past 12 months, making him the richest man in the Middle East for the ninth year running.

This year's profits increase follows tougher years for Prince Alwaleed, whose fortune was dented by $4bn in the global sub-prime meltdown in 2008. In January of the same year, Prince Alwaleed joined the Singapore government's investment arm in a $12.5bn capital injection for Citigroup.

This week, it emerged that Kingdom Holding – which is building the world's tallest skyscraper in Jeddah – is reportedly seeking a loan of about $500m to help refinance debt. About six banks are expected to participate in the loan, which is due to be signed in mid-January.

Prince Alwaleed, the second largest shareholder in News Corp after the Murdoch family, raised the alarm on the company in May, when he said the fallout from the phone hacking scandal was harming News Corp overall, not just the publishing interests.

But now he says he feels "vindicated" by his decision to stand by Rupert Murdoch, after News Corp shares climbed 34pc this year.

"When you have a conglomerate like News Corp, inevitably you will have a bad apple," he said.

"[Rupert Murdoch] is an honourable man. Clearly what took place is not right, but Rupert is out of this whole thing and we've been vindicated."

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