Who is Prince Waleed bin Talal, the co-owner of Twitter?

Riyadh: Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal-led Saudi Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) has become the “second largest shareholder” in Twitter after Elon Musk.

This came in a joint statement by the company and the private office of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Bin Talal, who shared the statement on his Twitter account on Friday, and referred to Musk as “Chief Twit”, stated that the deal was in line with the long-term strategy of KHC.

In the statement, Talal clarified that Kingdom Holding Company and the private office of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced the “termination of the transfer of their stake in the current Twitter shares, worth $1.89 billion, to the new private Twitter company”.

The statement said that the company and the prince’s office will become, with this transfer, “the second largest shareholder in the company after Elon Musk”.

Born on March 7, 1955, in Saudi Arabia, Al Waleed bin Talal is the grandson of Saudi Arabia’s first monarch, King Ibn Saud, and the nephew of King Abdullah Saud.

His mother, Princess Mona Al Solh, was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Lebanon. In 1975, Al Waleed bin Talal traveled to the United States to pursue his education. He received his bachelor’s degree from Menlo College in California in 1979 and his master’s degree from Syracuse University in 1985.

Following graduation, Al Waleed bin Talal returned to Saudi Arabia to start his career in business. Al Waleed bin Talal is the founder of the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), a Saudi group that invests in hotels, real estate and publicly traded companies around the world.

Regarded as one of the world’s richest investors, Al Waleed bin Talal’s fortune reached $16 billion in 2022. Al Waleed bin Talal has been listed in Time magazine’s list of the most influential people, and he is considered “Warren Buffett” from Saudi Arabia.