Saudi tycoon to hand over his fortune to charity
LONDON: Colourful Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, whose business interests range from Twitter to Citigroup, has revealed plans to hand over his $32 billion fortune to charity.
Prince Al-Waleed, believed to be the 20th richest person in the world, said he hoped the gift would build a “better world of tolerance, acceptance, equality and opportunity for all”. However, he did not specify the time period over which it will be handed out.
“The philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world,” he said.
“Since most of my wealth was achieved from this blessed country, I have made giving back to Saudi Arabia my number one priority – after which our philanthropic efforts will extend to countries around the world.”
However, he played down fears over his health, adding: “I believe that a person should take dramatic and drastic decisions at his peak. I’m very healthy, enough to bike every day for three hours. I assure you my health is good.”
The 60-year-old follows in the footsteps of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who have promised to give away swathes of their wealth.
More than 30 US billionaires have so far pledged to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity as part of a campaign, including former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, banker David Rockefeller and investor Ronald Perelman.
The prince said the pledge would not affect any of the investments or future projects of Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle in which he owns a 95 percent stake. Earlier this year, kingdom sold a stake valued at almost $190m in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, reducing its stake to about 1 percent.
Al-Waleed has been the second-largest investor in the media group after the Murdochs. – The Independent