PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal

Is One Of The World's Biggest Shoppers Ready To Spend?

Filed under: Wealth

Last year was rough for everyone even one of the world's richest men Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Sure he's still building that gilded Airbus A380 with the garage for his Rolls-Royce but last year saw his Kingdom Holdings sell off a 50 percent stake in the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva and other hotel assets.

But a recent AFP story has the prince preparing for a spending spree. He has transferred 180 million of his own shares in Citigroup into Kingdom Holdings giving the struggling company a lovely boost of approximately $597 million in value. He says this was done because the group is getting ready to invest in new hotels in the Gulf region including the Kingdom Tower, a skyscraper in Jeddah on the Red Sea that would be taller than the newly opened Burj Khalifia. It's also a vote of confidence for Citi that the shares will generate profit for Kingdom allowing it to continue to spend. The action sends a strong message to the world that when it comes to real estate development, the Gulf is still reaching for the stars.

Tags: burj khalifa, BurjKhalifa, citigroup, jeddah, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal

Carla Bruni's Castle Back on the Market for $28 Million, Estate of the Day

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

Back in February we reported that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the sexy supermodel, singer and first lady of France, had sold her family's castle in Italy (above) to an Arab sheikh. Now the buyer, who has since been revealed as billionaire Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has relisted the historic castle with an affiliate of Christie's Great Estates with a reported asking price of about $28 million; he was said to have originally paid anywhere from $12 million - $25 million depending on sources. The 40-room, 21,000-sq.-ft. Castello di Castagneto Po, near Turin, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the years but is believed to first date from the year 1019. Bruni's father, the billionaire industrialist Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, bought the historic estate in 1952 for about $1.5 million. It is surrounded by 175 acres replete with vegetable gardens, orchards, flowering terraces, ancient greenhouses, a caretaker's house and a farm building.

Gallery: Carla Bruni's Castle

Tags: billionaire, Carla Bruni, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, CarlaBruni, CarlaBruni-sarkozy, castle, Christies Great Estates, ChristiesGreatEstates, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, France, Italy, Nicolas Sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal, Saudi Arabia, SaudiArabia

Saudi Princess Stiffs Parisian Boutiques for $24 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Princess Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister, is holed up in a Paris luxury hotel claiming diplomatic immunity after refusing to pay a $24 million tab she ran up at the city's ritziest boutiques. Al-Sudairi, whose husband Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz is a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family and is second-in-line to the throne, racked up the impressive debt on a year-long spree at the French capital's high-end clothing, jewelry and lingerie boutiques, the London Telegraph reports. In all some 30 businesses have been stiffed including Dior, jewelry shops Chaumet and Victoria Casal, lingerie emporium O Caprices De Lili, and the famed Hotel de Crillon.

The Princess is currently holed up in a $4,000-per-night suite at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons George V hotel (above), which is partly owned by her nephew, Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. After some of those owed money initiated legal proceedings, the plaintiffs' lawyer Jacky Benazerah obtained a court order for bailiffs to go to the George V and seize the Princess' belongings. However, the Princess has invoked diplomatic immunity and will likely refuse them entry, in which case the French interior ministry and senior police officials would have to be consulted to authorize a police escort, the BBC reports.

Jamila Boushaba, owner of Paris' O Caprices De Lili lingerie shop, located directly across from the George V, was left holding a $100,000 bill for lacy underthings. "She was a very good customer for eight years, but then simply stopped paying," Boushaba tells the Telegraph. "I made a delivery of lingerie to the George V, but payment never arrived. Every time we called, we were told the bill would be settled the next day. It never was. When we contacted the Saudi ambassador in Paris he said there was nothing he could do for us." An aide to the Saudi royal family was similarly unhelpful, sniffing, "I'm afraid we can't go around settling bills for the Princess's knickers."

Jacky Giami, proprietor of luxury clothing boutique Key Largo, said the Princess stripped his shelves of some $215,000 worth of casual wear. "We know the family well – they're in Paris a lot," Giami tells the Telegraph. "She's not the kind of customer where you ask for a deposit, or to ask to see a piece of identity." Every time the Princess and her entourage visited Giami's and others' shops a representative would offer staff an embossed card stating "Payment to Follow". And of course having all those exquisite clothes cleaned cost quite a bit as well; the Princess is also said to have run up a drycleaning bill of $50,000 - per week.

Tags: Chaumet, Dior, diplomat, Four Seasons George V, FourSeasonsGeorgeV, hotel, Hotel de Crillon, HotelDeCrillon, lingerie, Paris, prince alwaleed bin talal, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal, PrinceNayefBinAbdulAziz, princess, royalty, Saudi Arabia, SaudiArabia

Challenging Economy Doesn't Stop Plans For The World's Most Lavish Private Jet

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings, Wealth

One of the world's richest men, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has been divesting himself of his hotel assets lately but one thing he doesn't seem to be set to give up is his Airbus A380 which will be the first private jet for this model. He hasn't officially said that he is the owner of the plane but just about everyone is certain that the Saudi prince will be making this his new flying palace. We've been covering this one for a while, including the rumor that the exterior will be painted gold. Now some interior plans have been revealed including a special cylindrical elevator will carry his Rolls-Royce into his own on-board garage. The plane will also include a Turkish bath, concert hall, ample private quarters and a boardroom. One amazing detail is the airplane equivalent of a glass-bottom board, a floor made from a giant screen that will show where the plane is flying over. The lavish plane is said to cost around $488 million. More images are up over at Gadling.

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Tags: airbus a380, AirbusA380, alwaleedbintalal, plane, prince alwaleed bin talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal

Billionaire Saudi Prince To Put More Hotels Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wealth

You know it's bad out there when one of the world's richest men, Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia is divesting himself of his assets like it's going out of style. We last wrote about Prince Alwaleed last month when his Kingdom Holding company sold its 50 percent stake in the exclusive Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva and he's not done yet, two of the world's most famous hotels may be up for sale.

Prince Alwaleed, who is worth $13 billion after seeing his wealth tumble from $21 billion last year, is putting the Raffles of Singapore hotel up for sale for $450 million. The legendary hotel was once the home of writer Somerset Maugham and has been around since 1887. This is the hotel that gave us the cocktail known as the Singapore Sling and has been a stopping place for decades of movie stars.

Also said to be up for sale is London's Savoy hotel. The historic London hotel is currently receiving a major renovation. Its sale price could be around £200 million, the same at which Irish property investment specialists Quinlan Private sold it for in 2005.

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Tags: london, prince alwaleed bin talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal, raffles singapore, RafflesSingapore, savoy hotel, SavoyHotel, singapore

Saudi Prince Sells Hotel Stake

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

One of the world's richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (#19 on the Forbes list for 2008), has made his portfolio a little lighter this week. Alwaleed is the head of Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding which has sold its 50 percent stake in the exclusive Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva. Kingdom Holdings made $60 million on the deal for the hotel which it bought into in 2003. In 2005, it sold 50 percent stake in the hotel to Britain-based Cedar Capital Partners. The company says the sale is just part of its normal business practices of buying and selling hotel assets around the world. Kingdom Holdings still owns a 47.5 percent stake in Four Season Hotels and Resorts which manages Hotel des Bergues.

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Tags: geneva, kingdom holdings, KingdomHoldings, prince alwaleed bin talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal

Bin Laden Family Loses $1.3 Billion

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

The super-rich Saudi Arabian family of the world's most famous terrorist is feeling the pinch of the staggering economy, and has seen their fortune shrink by $1.3 billion over the past year, according to a new study.

Osama bin Laden's siblings own a major construction concern, headed by his brother Sheikh Tarek bin Laden (right); due to the credit crunch, they've seen their net worth fall from $8.5 billion to $7.2 billion, according to a new list of the world's richest Arabs by Dubai-based Arabian Business magazine.

Sheikh Tarek's latest project involves plans to build the world's longest suspension bridge, linking Africa with Arabia across the Bab al-Mandib (Gate of Tears), the strait connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, at a cost of $200 billion; he plans to construct two new cities, one at each end, as well.

Elsewhere on the Arabian Rich List, which does not included royalty with the exception of those whose wealth has been achieved through business dealings rather than inheritance, Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is ranked in the top spot with a $17 billion fortune, despite having lost $4 billion in the past year as well.

Tags: Billionaires, Osama bin Laden, OsamaBinLaden, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal, Saudi Arabia, SaudiArabia, Sheikh Tarek bin Laden, SheikhTarekBinLaden