Saudi Arabia Detains Famed Billionaire, Princes, Ministers
Local Editor
Saudi Arabia detained 11 princes, four current ministers and tens of former ministers in a probe by a new anti-corruption body headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported.
Among those detained in Saudi Arabia, no name carries more power in Western financial markets than Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
The prince, listed by Forbes as the richest Arab with $18.7 billion to his name, long has made big bets in the markets, holding major stakes in companies like Apple and CitiBank.
But his arrest now comes after Saudi Arabia hosted a major investment summit in Riyadh at one of the hotels now reportedly holding dozens of princes and former officials detained late Saturday in what authorities described as an anti-corruption campaign.
"This is going to cause some immediate apprehension in terms of investors looking at Saudi Arabia," said Graham Griffiths, a senior analyst at Control Risks focusing on Saudi Arabia. Prince Alwaleed "is someone who has been represented as a face of the kingdom, someone that a lot of people have done business with and are comfortable doing business with."
Prince Alwaleed, 62, is a major shareholder in Twitter, as well as an investor in ride-sharing services Lyft and Careem. He is also majority owner of the popular Rotana Group of Arabic satellite channels, and owns shares in the Four Seasons and Movenpick hotel chains.
It is worth noting that while Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman eagerly embraced US President Donald Trump, Prince Alwaleed famously criticized him during his campaign.
Other than Alwaleed bin Talal, according to a senior Saudi official who declined to be identified under briefing rules, those detained include:
- Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, minister of the National Guard
- Prince Turki bin Abdullah, former governor of Riyadh province
- Khalid al-Tuwaijri, former chief of the Royal Court
- Adel Fakeih, Minister of Economy and Planning
- Ibrahim al-Assaf, former finance minister
- Abdullah al-Sultan, commander of the Saudi navy
- Bakr bin Laden, chairman of Saudi Binladin Group
- Mohammad al-Tobaishi, former head of protocol at the Royal Court
- Amr al-Dabbagh, former governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority
- Alwaleed al-Ibrahim, owner of television network MBC
- Khalid al-Mulheim, former director-general at Saudi Arabian Airlines
- Saoud al-Daweesh, former chief executive of Saudi Telecom 7010.SE
- Prince Turki bin Nasser, former head of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment
- Prince Fahad bin Abdullah bin Mohammad al-Saud, former deputy defence minister
- Saleh Kamel, businessman
- Mohammad al-Amoudi, businessman
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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