The Great Return of Saudi Mask’s colleague

Prince Almalid bin Talal returned. The fancy billionaire founder of the Saudi Group Kingdom Holding never left literally. But since involved in the detention of hundreds of members of the country’s elite by Prince successor Mohammed bin Salman in 2017 in Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh, he has remained against his temperament under the radar. No more. Encouraged by the election Trump And the unprecedented political power of his friend Ilon Musk, he found his old self again.

He lies in investments, photographed with baby camels and transmits his sincere views by Ertziana. In an interview with Bloomberg from his office on the top floor at Kingdom Center, 70 -year -old Alicid speaks endlessly, reminiscent of the old beloved Saudi of Wall Street a decade ago.

The Great Return of Saudi Mask’s colleague

Musk is « de facto vice -president and runs the show in Washington, » Allynd told a Zoom teleconference in February. The X, which himself helped Musk buy in 2022, is worth more than investors think of his owner’s new influence, he said.

This view was apparently confirmed last month, when MASK’s artificial intelligence operation, Xai, acquired X at the same price that Musk had bought before her value fell. Allynd, along with his investment company, is now the second largest shareholder in the new X-XAI blend, after Musk. His personal participation is about $ 1.45 billion.

Allynd is a special case between the rich and powerful in the Gulf area, especially in the years after the fatal episode of Ritz-Carlton. It has a personal property of $ 17.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, who helped him undoubtedly become the most famous Saudi in the world before the MBS successor appears in 2015.

As a major shareholder of Citigroup, News Corp. And Walt Disney, Almalid was constantly traveling. He often attended meetings with heads of state and royal weddings, gaining important contacts.

For years it was the Wall Street window in Saudi Arabia, a market virtually impenetrable by foreigners, though today, Saudi Arabia is no longer a mystery for Wall Street.

As much as Almalid seems to be arrogant himself, in fact, his world changed at a time in November 2017, when he was imprisoned in Ritz along with dozens of other royal family members, businessmen and former officials.

The event shocked Almond’s well -known Wall Street. The concern for the maneuver of Mochamed bin Salman, who intensified by the murder and dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Kasoghi after a few months, terrorized the business world.

The Saudi authorities described the raid as a corruption suppression and talked about $ 106 billion in « recovered » funds. It was rumored that the prisoners were tortured, but the accusations were unclear. When Almalid appeared after 83 days, obviously slimming, he claimed to have been justified and cited by a signed « confirmed understanding » to ensure his release.

The terms of the agreement were secret, but it was clear that the government had a strong interest in its portfolio.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – PIF invested $ 1.5 billion in Kingdom Holding, reducing Almalid’s share from $ 95% to 78%. He said he still personally approved any investment decision.

Although he is obliged by the successor, Almalid still maintains a significant influence, especially abroad.

« He ended up keeping his fund and his assets, » Krispin Hoz, director of Idrisi Advisors, who is focusing on the Middle East, told Bloomberg. « That would only have happened if it had a purpose. »

These days, Almalind deals with a number of projects, all of which contribute to the support of Vision 2030.

In Jeddah, he had just restarted the construction of the Jeddah Tower (formerly Kingdom Tower) after seven years with the aim of being the tallest building in the world, with a height of one kilometer.

In a joint venture with the Saudi Arabian government, it also develops a Four Seasons (a share of the hotel chain management company) on an island in the Red Sea.

And he is expected to start selling the shares of the low -cost airline, Flynas, in the coming weeks, utilizing his plans to make the kingdom a hotspot.

The Rotana Media Group group is the main partner of the government entertainment authority for all concerts in the country, a « hundreds of millions of dollars » agreement, « he said, after the successor allowed live music.

Allynd has never been a significant economic power within Saudi Arabia. It was far from the royal succession and the domestic economy was almost exclusively guided by the state colossus, the oil company Aramco. But internationally he was famous for his luxury life as well as his luxurious life: he has a 420 -room palace and a private resort with his own zoo and many artificial lakes.

Another feature was its reform tendency. Requested the creation of a serious state investment fund years before the creation of PIF. Time magazine named him one of the most powerful people in the world in 2008.

Recent Almond’s Gender comments reflect views of the Trump cycle, including Musk.

He distinguished gender identity as an example of America’s « crazy » leftist policies in an interview with Tyler Carlson, which was broadcast on X.

For the time being, Almalid enjoys the revival of Musk’s social networking company, a bet that seemed doubtful just six months ago. He said he had a complete belief that the X would fulfill his high expectations, but he probably did not imagine that the investment would bring him so close to the power centers.

Allynd has a long history with Trump, unleashing him when the future president sank into debt in the early 1990s.

He said the assault of the president on duties is a classic Trump tactic. « I know Trump for a long time, » he said. « It’s a stable leader. »

Allynd hopes the president will soon conclude bilateral agreements to stop market volatility, but said that the positives of Trump’s conservative agenda outweigh current economic chaos. « I am against Woke, against illegal immigration, against the left, » he said.

There were not always good relationships. Allynd attacked Trump on Twitter in 2015 following the proposal of the then presidential candidate from prohibiting the entry of Muslims into the US, calling him « shame for America ». Trump, in turn, accused him of the Prince of wanting to « control our American politicians with dad’s money ».

Allynde said Trump changed his reasoning as soon as he was elected and became « very friendly » with the Arab world. Like many other billionaires, Almalid hastened to congratulate the president on his re -election.

« Allynd is a well -known personality in New York and Washington, » Jim Crein, a partner at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice, told Bloomberg. « If you are able to influence the US government or need direct foreign investment from major US, or both, Almalid moves in these circles and can make it happen. It is perfectly reasonable to reappear now. « 

As Alwalid returns to the forefront, another feature is remarkably different: he does not deal with public estimates for his pure value as long as he was suing the media because they were underestimated.

Today, it is almost $ 300 billion from the first place, which Musk holds – but is pleased to be close to him.

« I’m never going to become Jeff Bezos or Musk or Bill Gates, » he said. But « at least we have to get the share that is up to us. »