Billionaire Saudi Prince Bin Talal, Others Arrested In Corruption Crackdown

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LAGOS NOVEMBER 5TH (NEWRANGERS)-Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a prominent member of the county’s royal family and a wealthy investor, was arrested on Saturday in connection with a wide-ranging anti-corruption initiative, according to local reports.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman removed a host of prominent officials in a sweeping crackdown, in which dozens of princes and former ministers were detained. News outlets, including Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, and The Wall Street Journal, reported Bin Talal was among those arrested. CNBC could not immediately confirm Bin Talal’s status.
If verified, the arrest of Bin Talal would represent a jarring turn of events as the prince has cultivated an image as the de-facto public face of Saudi finance. It would also be the most dramatic chapter in the evolving narrative of Bin Salman, who has steadily consolidated his authority since his elevation to Defense Minister in early 2015.
Considered one of the most prominent members of the Saudi royal family, Bin Talal has been the subject of numerous profiles in U.S. and international publications. He has made numerous appearances on CNBC dispensing investment advice — such as last month, when he predicted bitcoin was little more than a speculative bubble that would soon “implode”
The billionaire is an American-educated philanthropist and investor who is heavily invested in U.S. corporate giants like Citigroup, Apple, 21st Century Fox and Twitter, just to name a few. Between 1991 and 1995, bin Talal came to the rescue of President Donald Trump, whose real estate empire was under strain. Bin Talal purchased a yacht, and invested in Trump’s Plaza Hotel.
In 2015, Bin Talal announced he would donate his entire fortune to help build a “better world of tolerance, acceptance, equality and opportunity for all.”
The anti-corruption sweep is taking place against a backdrop of reform in Saudi Arabia, and the impending launch of an initial public offering for state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco next year. The IPO is expected to be the largest in history, and Aramco is widely expected to dual-list shares on an international exchange.
AFP reported that Saudi Arabia’s newly formed anti-corruption commission arrested 10 princes and dozens of former government ministers on Saturday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported, citing unnamed sources.
The arrests came soon after the commission, headed by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was established by royal decree.
“Arrest of 10 princes and dozens of former ministers in Saudi Arabia,” Al Arabiya tweeted.
There was no official confirmation of the arrests.
The 32-year-old crown prince, often known as MBS, is set to be the first millennial to occupy the throne in a country where half the population is under 25, though the timing of his ascension remains unknown.
Already viewed as the de facto ruler controlling all the major levers of government, from defence to the economy, Prince Mohammed is widely seen to be stamping out traces of internal dissent before a formal transfer of power from his 81-year-old father King Salman.
In September the authorities arrested about two dozen people, including influential clerics, in what activists denounced as a coordinated crackdown.
Analysts said many of those detained were resistant to Prince Mohammed’s aggressive foreign policy that includes the boycott of Gulf neighbour Qatar as well as some of his bold policy reforms, including privatising state assets and cutting subsidies.

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