By Ahmed Al Omran
RIYADH--Saudi Arabia's Prince al-Waleed bin Talal on Wednesday
pledged $32 billion to philanthropy, with the empowerment of women
one of his priorities.
The prince said the sum represents his entire fortune and will
be used for humanitarian projects such as the empowerment of women
and young people, as well as disaster relief and disease
eradication.
Prince al-Waleed, who described his decision as "a commitment
without boundaries," cited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as
a role model for his philanthropy.
A nephew of Saudi King Salman, the prince controls most of his
wealth through the investment firm Kingdom Holding, in which he
owns a 95% stake. His investments include sizable stakes in
companies such as Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc., Twitter Inc. and Time
Warner Inc.
Kingdom Holding also owns a small stake in News Corp., which
owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
"The donation will be allocated according to a well devised plan
throughout the coming years," the prince said in a statement. "It
will be based on a strategy that is supervised and managed by a
board of trustees headed by me to ensure that it will be used after
my death for humanitarian projects and initiatives," he added,
without giving further details on the donation plan.
Although Saudi Arabia has been widely criticized for its gender
inequality, with women still forbidden from driving and facing
several other restrictions, Prince al-Waleed has been a staunch and
vocal advocate of women's rights in recent years.
While many of the charities based in Saudi Arabia are linked to
members of the royal family, this is the first time a prince has
announced he will donate his entire fortune to philanthropy.
In 2011, Saudi banking billionaire Sulaiman al-Rajhi announced
that he would donate the bulk of his money to charity through an
endowment that bears his name.
Prince al-Waleed told the press that the planned donation won't
affect publicly traded Kingdom Holding, as no shares in the company
were being sold, and that he would continue to run it as
before.
He said his children, Prince Khaled and Princess Reem, were
supportive of his decision to donate his wealth. Both of them were
present at the announcement in the Saudi capital.
Write to Ahmed Al Omran at Ahmed.AlOmran@wsj.com
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