Episode 85 - Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: The Saudi Warren Buffett

For decades, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was the international face of Saudi finance, a globe-trotting investor who cultivated an image as the "Warren Buffett of the Middle East." This episode charts the rise of the flamboyant prince, who used his royal connections to build a massive investment portfolio through his company, Kingdom Holding. We explore his high-profile stakes in iconic Western companies like Citicorp, Apple, and the Four Seasons hotel chain, which made him a fixture on the global business circuit.

His carefully crafted image came crashing down in November 2017. As part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's supposed "anti-corruption" purge, Prince Alwaleed was arrested and imprisoned for nearly three months in the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, along with hundreds of other prominent Saudis. He was forced to negotiate a secret, and likely very expensive, settlement to secure his release. The incident was a brutal demonstration of the new power dynamics within the kingdom.

The story of Prince Alwaleed is a stark reminder that in an absolute monarchy, personal wealth and status are always conditional. His imprisonment signaled the end of the old way of doing business in Saudi Arabia and the consolidation of power under one man. Even the most famous Saudi billionaire was ultimately subject to the will of the crown.