I came across some interesting information about al Waleed bin Talal al Saud and his return to the Forbes 2025 list. Honestly, the profile of this Saudi prince is a fascinating case study in the world of global investing.

So, al Waleed bin Talal al Saud has returned to the Forbes billionaire list this year with a net worth of $16.5 billion, making him the richest man in the Arab world. What’s striking isn’t just the figure itself but how he uses it: his investment strategy is truly multi-sector and well diversified.

Born in 1955, grandson of Saudi Arabia’s founder King Abdulaziz, al Waleed was already on the Forbes list in 2017 with $18.7 billion, but was excluded from 2018 when Forbes stopped counting Saudi billionaires. In 2025, he’s the only one from the 2017 list to return, and he ranks first among the 15 Saudi billionaires present this year. Globally, he is ranked 128th.

The foundation of his wealth is the Kingdom Holding Company, the group he founded 45 years ago, which he controls at 78.13%. This stake is worth about $6.4 billion. Kingdom Holding is one of the largest Saudi investment groups, with a portfolio valued at $19 billion (end of 2024), strategically distributed across three main sectors: equities and financial investments, hotels and real estate, with branches in 18 sub-sectors.

In tech, al Waleed bin Talal al Saud has a very interesting position: Kingdom Holding is the second-largest shareholder of X (formerly Twitter) and Elon Musk’s xAI. Last year, they increased their investment in xAI to $800 million through Series B and C rounds. He was a strong supporter of Musk’s Twitter deal in 2022 and continues to bet when Musk announced the merger of X and xAI in March, valuing the new company at $125 billion. He expects his investment in this joint venture to reach between $4 and $5 billion in the near future. He also holds positions in Meta, Uber, Didi, Lyft, and other tech platforms.

Hotels account for 31% of the portfolio: he owns 23.7% of Four Seasons (a joint venture with Bill Gates, after selling half to Gates for $2.21 billion in 2021), and 6.8% of Accor, the French hotel group with brands like Fairmont, Raffles, Sofitel.

In the financial sector, al Waleed’s historic investment in Citigroup in 1991 with $800 million grew to $10 billion by 2005. Today, Kingdom Holding owns 1.06% of Citigroup and is the main shareholder of Banque Saudi Fransi with 16.2% (approximately $1.8 billion).

Real estate makes up 25.9% of the portfolio: Kingdom Centre in Riyadh and Jeddah Tower (expected to surpass 1,000 meters, the tallest in the world), with contracts worth $1.9 billion, plus a 35.74% stake in Jeddah Economic Company.

In aviation, Kingdom Holding owns 37.2% of Flynas, the low-cost airline with 61 aircraft. al Waleed announced on X that Flynas will go public on Tadawul this year with a target of at least $2 billion.

Healthcare and education complete the picture: 4.9% of Dallah Health and 89.8% of the Kingdom School System (which saw a 14% increase in enrollment last year).

In summary, al Waleed bin Talal al Saud exemplifies a global investor model that doesn’t limit itself to one sector but builds a diversified ecosystem. His strategy works: from tech to real estate, tourism to healthcare, everything is interconnected and fuels the overall growth of his wealth.