Bloomberg reported that Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal invested more than $500 million in Russian companies at the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prince Alwaleed’s investment company, Kingdom Holding, received deposit slips issued by oil and gas giant Gazprom, Lukoil PJSC and Rosneft PJSC in February, according to the group’s disclosure to the Saudi Stock Exchange.
No specific date has been set for the investments, and the Saudi firm did not respond to Bloomberg’s questions about whether it still owns the assets, as the value of all depositary receipts in Moscow was suspended after the invasion began on February 24. The speed decreased. And Western sanctions were imposed on Russia.
Prince Alwaleed is one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia and one of the most famous international investors.
Most recently, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, headed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, acquired a 16.9 percent stake in Kingdom Holding, worth $1.5 billion, in May.
Prince Alwaleed was also detained at the Saudi capital’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 2017, along with other princes and government officials, as part of what the government described as an anti-corruption investigation.
But the wealthy prince faced no formal charges and was released after 83 days in custody after reaching an undisclosed “confirmed understanding” with the government.
Big investments
Kingdom Holding has invested $3.4 billion in shares and depositary receipts since 2020, according to Alwaleed Group disclosures. The largest share of investment was 2.5 billion riyals in Spain’s Telefonica SA from April to August 2020.
It also disclosed the shares of famous companies Uber, Alibaba China and others. Alwaleed also increased his investments in Apple and Citigroup.
Bin Talal, 67, had become one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent investors after acquiring stakes in major companies such as Twitter and others.
More recently, he announced the sale of a portion of his Rotana music brand to Warner Music Group and raised $2.2 billion by selling a portion of his stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain to Bill Gates Cascade Investment LLC.
Alwaleed is known for his long-term investments and is a big fan of the famous American investor Warren Buffett.
Source: Lebanon Debate
