FYI: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman embarked on the most sweeping crackdown yet of his reign, ordering security forces to arrest senior princes including one of the world’s richest men and driving out one of the most prominent officials from his ministerial role.
The arrests, conducted shortly after the establishment of an anti-corruption committee headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reinforced speculation King Salman is clearing any remaining obstacles to his son’s ascension to the throne.
Security forces arrested 11 princes, four ministers and dozens of former ministers and prominent businessmen, according to Saudi media and a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Prince Miteb, son of the late King Abdullah, was removed from his post as head of the powerful National Guards. Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was picked up at his desert camp, the senior official said. Authorities did not disclose the evidence that prompted the arrests but said the suspects are under investigation and were innocent until proven guilty.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-04/saudi-national-guard-chief-economy-minister-out-in-reshuffleM*: Investing Insights From A Prince:
http://www.morningstar.in/posts/39765/39765.aspxHis Portfolio:
Citigroup
Kingdom Holding has held Citigroup shares since 1991, according to its website, increasing its stake during the bank’s 98 percent plunge during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Citigroup’s latest proxy filing doesn’t include Alwaleed or Kingdom Holding among the two investors that own more than 5 percent of the company. The prince was a vocal backer of Vikram Pandit, the chief executive officer brought in to help turn Citigroup around, although he also told Fox News in a 2010 interview that the “honeymoon is over” for Pandit and that investors wanted to see results.
Alwaleed long has been a vocal shareholder, encouraging the lender to rebuild its Saudi Arabian business more than a decade after it lost a key banking license there. Citigroup will reopen in the kingdom later this year after a 13-year absence. Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat met the prince in Riyadh in March to discuss the bank’s future plans. The company declined to comment.
Technology and Entertainment
Twitter Inc.
Alwaleed invested $300 million in Twitter in 2011 for what Kingdom Holding’s website says was a “substantial position” in one of social media’s most powerful platforms. He currently owns 4.9 percent of Twitter, according to a regulatory filing by the San Francisco-based company in February. In an interview on CNBC Arabia in October, he said Twitter may face some difficulties, though his investment was close to breaking even and he was optimistic about the outlook. Alwaleed has pared his investment from 5.1 percent in December 2015. The company declined to comment.
Apple
Alwaleed bought 6.23 million shares, or 5 percent, of the computer and mobile-device maker for $115.4 million in 1997. He made these purchases between mid-March and April of that year while the company was still struggling to turn itself around. He has since continued to hold the stake while Apple’s valuation has soared to as high as $900 billion. The company didn’t immediately respond to comment.
Lyft
In 2015, Kingdom Holding was among a group of investors that bought a 5.3 percent stake in the California-based ride-hailing company, valued at $247.7 million. Lyft’s major investors, Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, also sold a portion of their shares in the company to Alwaleed last year. The company didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
21st Century Fox
Another one of his crown jewels is Rupert Murdoch’s media and entertainment company, in which the prince held 39.7 million shares, a 4.98 percent stake, as of December 31, 2015. That’s lower than the 6.6 percent holding he had in the company as of the end of 2013, according to regulatory filings. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2011, while a leading stockholder at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., he called for the departure of top executive Rebekah Brooks amid a phone hacking scandal in the U.K. Three years later, he voted with the Murdochs as shareholders tried to dilute family control over the business. He sold most of his stake in 2015.
JD.com
Alwaleed has been investing in e-commerce and technology companies for a number of years as demand for technology and Internet services increases. In 2013, Kingdom Holding led a group of investors in buying a stake in a Chinese online retailer, now called JD.com, that was valued at $400 million. JD.com said it had raised a total of $700 million from investors, also including a Canadian pension fund and some major shareholders, in addition to Kingdom Holding. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hotels
Through Kingdom Holding and its Kingdom Hotel Investments unit, Alwaleed has made substantial investments in some of the world’s grandest hotels and biggest operators. Kingdom’s portfolio of luxury hotels includes a controlling interest in the The Plaza in New York, the Savoy Hotel in London and the George V in Paris, according to its website. Kingdom Hotels has a 5.7 percent stake in Accor SA, Europe’s biggest hotel operator, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Accor declined to comment.
Domestic
Alwaleed owns significant stakes in Saudi companies across the real estate, retail and petrochemical industries. Most recently, Kingdom Holding acquired a 16.2 percent of Banque Saudi Fransi from Credit Agricole SA in September. The $1.5 billion deal makes Kingdom Holding the biggest shareholder in Saudi Arabia’s fifth-largest bank. Saudi Fransi didn’t respond to requests for comment.
It is the latest addition to a domestic portfolio that also includes a 33 percent stake in Jeddah Economic Company, which is developing a real estate project in Jeddah that is set to include the world’s tallest building. Other assets include the Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, which includes one of the tallest towers in Riyadh and a Four Seasons hotel. Other investments include a 34 percent stake in Flynas, a budget airline that was considering an initial public offering this year, and a stake in food-producer Savola.
