Source: http://www.journalcr.com/
(Infocom) — Billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia visited Costa Rica this past weekend and stayed here until Tuesday, when he left for Guatemala after personally checking out and coordinating his investments in Costa Rica, as he is the largest shareholder of the chain Four Seasons — which has a five-star hotel in Guanacaste’s Gulf of Papagayo.
It was in this hotel where Prince Al-Waleed reserved 48 of its 153 rooms for him and his entourage of almost 50 people.
This newspaper obtained information from trusted sources, indicating that the Arab investor’s visit was promoted by one of Latin America’s top developers, who has put Costa Rica on the world map through his Gulf of Papagayo projects.
The Prince, whose full name is Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, became the largest shareholder of the Four Seasons chain earlier this year, when he and his friend, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, bought $3.4 billion in shares of the Canadian hotel chain. However, Al-Waleed took the biggest piece of the pie: 7.6 million shares, or 22 percent, while Gates bought 5 percent of the stock.
It was said that Gates himself may have recently been in the country visiting as incognito, with the goal of coordinating more investments just like the royal businessman.
That was precisely the goal of Prince Al-Waleed’s meeting this past Monday with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. They spoke, among other things, about Costa Rica’s position regarding direct foreign investment.
The prince — the 13th richest person on the planet, worth $20.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine — arrived in Liberia last Saturday around 9:30 p.m. aboard his luxurious private jet, a Boeing 747 valued at $260 million.
To speed up customs and immigration paperwork, Immigration Service personnel went into the plane and took care of everything. Most of the visitors got out through the rear door of the fancy aircraft.
Unlike many millionaire Arabs who have amassed their fortunes thanks to petrodollars, Al-Waleed — whom Time magazine once called the Arab Warren Buffett — has done it through investments in various industries, including real estate, banking, technology, mass media and luxury hotels.
Minutes after landing in Liberia and being picked up by a deluxe bus along with his 48-person entourage, the royal businessman arrived at the exclusive Four Seasons hotel on the Gulf of Papagayo.
Visiting the hotel was part of Al-Waleed’s Central American and Caribbean tour. He first flew to the Dominican Republic and then to Panama, from where he arrived to Costa Rica before finishing the trip in Guatemala.
Coming to Costa Rica and staying and the Four Seasons were not random acts for the 53-year-old prince. He is the largest shareholder of the Four Seasons chain, and he was interested in checking out how his investment in Costa Rica is doing.
In addition to this aspect of his trip, Al-Waleed also did some official business by meeting with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias at his house in San Jose.
For his stay, the prince — whose full name is Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud — reserved 48 of the hotel’s 153 rooms. Even though the hotel security is very strict at all times, employees, who didn’t want to be identified, indicated that during the prince’s visit all controls were intensified even more.
It was earlier this year when Al-Waleed, together with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, bought a majority of the Canadian hotel chain’s stock. Both investors paid $3.4 billion, but Al-Waleed took the biggest piece of the pie: 7.6 million shares, or 22 percent, while Gates bought 5 percent of the stock.
According to Forbes magazine, the Arab prince is the 13th richest person on the planet, worth $20.3 billion, and the most important investor outside of the United States. His firm is called Kingdom Holding Company, which sports as a logo the private jet in which the prince arrived in Liberia last week.
In spite of being the nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, Al-Waleed doesn’t participate in government affairs, but has put his energy into his entrepreneurial pursuits. His financial skills showed since an early age, when in 1979, after graduating with a bachelor of science in business administration from Menlo College in California, he received a loan from his father — Saudi Arabia’s founding king, Abdul Aziz Al Saud — and began investing in strategic and diversified ventures.
Al-Waleed made alliances with foreign firms to do business in Saudi Arabia and got into the banking sector. He took a crucial step by injecting capital into banking firm Citigroup during its time of crisis, a move that paid off two years later, when the bank’s stock shot up. His Citigroup shares are worth some $10 million, almost half the prince’s assets.
Not satisfied with that, Al-Waleed has also ventured into the technological industry, investing in firms such as AOL, Hewlett Packard, Motorola and Apple Inc.
According to information from Wikipedia, the Saudi prince also has a master’s degree in social science from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
In addition to his financial success, Al-Waleed is known for his charity causes — though one of them has generated a lot of controversy. Not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, he offered assistance to the victims for $10 million. However, then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani declined the offer, as the prince had said the attack was a sign the United States needed to reexamine its Middle East policies.
He has made donations for research and promoting education. Several U.S. universities have benefited from Al-Waleed’s multimillion-dollar gifts.
For example, Georgetown University received $20 million from the prince for promoting Islamic studies. The endowment created the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
Another New York institute that conducts research in biomedicine has also received millions from the prince.
Al-Waleed has also supported the arts, giving the Louvre Museum $20 million to create a wing exclusively dedicated to Islamic art.
The world’s richest Arab
Name: Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Nationality: Saudi
Age: 53 years; born on March 7, 1955
Parents: Saudi Arabia’s founding king, Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and Princess Mona El-Solh. Other relatives include Riad El-Solh, prime minister of Lebanon, and Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco
Marriage status: Married for the third time to Princess Ameera, since 2006.
Children: Prince Khaled (27) and Princess Reem (23).
Studies: Master’s in social science from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
Businesses here and there
Through its firm, Kingdom Holding Company, Prince Al-Waleed participates in a large number of diverse companies based all over the world, including hotels, supermarkets, mass media, technology firms, etc.
Citigroup (banking)
Four Seasons hotel chain
George Hotel V in Paris
Beverly Wilshire Hotel in California
Savoy Hotel in London
Monte Carlo Grand Hotel in Monaco
Plaza Hotel in New York City
Disneyland Resort in Paris
AOL
Apple Inc.
Worldcom
Motorola
News Corporation Ltd.
Hewlett Packard
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Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste
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