The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very popular around the world for so many reasons. Firstly, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, only second to Algeria, and the fifth-largest Asian country in the world and overall the 12th-largest country in the world by landmass. The country’s oil reserves have put it in the global spotlight for quite some time now and the world’s largest exporter of petroleum has earned quite a reputation all across the globe as a country with a very good economic state. 65% of Saudi Arabia’s economy is petroleum-based and that makes the country heavily dependent on its oil reserves.
With the riches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it’s quite difficult to ignore the number of wealthy people who have made the country their abode. The Saudi royals have made quite an impression worldwide as one of the richest royal families, if not the richest, in the world and that’s only a highlight of how wealthy the country is. The family’s collective net worth as estimated by Bloomberg stands over $100 billion USD, more than Forbes’ estimation of the UK royal family’s net worth which stands at $88 billion USD.
As an extremely wealthy nation, KSA boasts of top billionaires, most of which are from the Saudi royal family. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman has constantly been in the spotlight for his luxury lifestyle which he’s not always scared to show off. He’s in control of Saudi Aramco which is reportedly the world’s most valuable company. Although there’s no clarity on how rich Saudis are, as proved by their absence from Forbes’ recent ranking, we are very confident there are a lot of them.
Hence, we’ve rounded up a list of the top 10 richest people in Saudi Arabia in 2021.
1. Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud is the grandson of perhaps Saudi’s most loved person, King Abdulaziz Al Saud. It’s no surprise that a member of the Saudi royal family is leading the charge of the country’s richest people. He currently runs the Kingdom Holding Company, one of the biggest conglomerates in Saudi Arabia and most of his business investments go through the company. His Kingdom Palace in Riyadh has an estimated worth of $130 million USD. His company also holds stakes in different investments like Four Seasons Hotels Hotel George V Paris, Lyft, Twitter, Citigroup, and many more. He bought Donald Trump’s yacht for a reported fee of $40 million USD back in 1991 and in recent years, he has been involved with other wealthy people from across the globe, most notably Bill Gates. Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud has a net worth of $19.2 billion USD according to Bloomberg.
2. Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi
Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi is an Ethiopian-Saudi billionaire businessman, and he is one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia with a net worth of over $8 billion USD as reported by Bloomberg. He is the founder of Svenska, a Saudi Arabia-based oil company but that’s not his only investment. He’s also known to be a major exporter of coffee beans and tea leaves, with Lipton and Starbucks as two of his most renowned customers. His other investments include gold mining, food production, cement production, with the majority of them based in either Saudi Arabia or Ethiopia.
3. Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, fondly called MBS, has been in the global spotlight ever since he was made the crown prince. He has made powerful changes to some of the founding rules in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, most notably, giving more freedom to women by allowing them to drive cars and also watch soccer matches. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is reportedly to be in possession of the world’s costliest painting, Leanardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. Mohammed bin Salman is in charge of the world’s most valuable company, Saudi Aramco and over the years, he has spent heavily on a $500 million USD yacht as well as a $300 million USD French chateau.
4. Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer
Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer is another member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an estimated net worth of $3.8 billion USD. He’s majorly into farming, and his company, Almarai, is one of the largest dairy companies in the Middle East. Farming has proved to be his biggest interest point with several large farms of Holstein cows through which he supplies natural milk throughout the Gulf region.
5. Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber
Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber’s wealth comes from real estate and hotels. He owns lots of hotels in the Middle East and across Europe through JJW Hotels and Resorts. The Jeddah-based entrepreneur is the founder and CEO of the MBI Group which controls Jadawel International, Continentoil, and also has stakes in AJWA Group for Food Industries. Apart from being a well-known investor, Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber is also popular for his philanthropic projects through the MBI Al Jaber Foundation which is headquartered in London. He also has investments in Riyadh Bank, one of the most popular and valuable banks in Saudi Arabia.
6. Abdullah Al Rajhi
Abdullah S. Al Rajhi is a Riyadh-based businessman and the founder of Al Rajhi Bank, one of the biggest Islamic banks in the world. Al Rajhi’s highest ranking on the Forbes’ billionaire ranking prior to exclusion of Saudis from the list was in 2017 when he ranked 1098th with a net worth of $1.9 billion USD. He also has stakes in Al Baraka Banking Group, founded by another Saudi Arabian billionaire, the late Saleh Kamel. His other investments include stakes in agriculture and cement companies.
7. Nasser Ibrahim Al-Rashid
Nasser Ibrahim Al-Rashid is another Saudi-based businessman and billionaire. Nasser usually likes to keep a low profile but is quite famous for owning one of the largest yachts in the world, named Lady Moura. The cost of building the yacht in the late ‘80s reportedly stood over $200 million USD. He was also one of the three Saudis to donate about $1 million USD to the Clinton Presidential Center.
8. Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim
There’s just as much money in the media as there is in other industries and that has been proved by Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim who is the first commercially successful TV channel owner in the Gulf region. He is the founder and chairman of the MBC Group which he founded in London in 1991 alongside Saleh Kamal. In 1992, the group bought the United Press International for a reported fee of $3.9 million USD after the company was faced with bankruptcy.
9. Bakr bin Laden
Bakr bin Laden once served as the chairman of the popular Saudi Binladen Group and at some point, he also had the highest stake in the company before transferring it to the government of Saudi Arabia in 2018. Many people know Bakr bin Laden as the son of Mohammed bin Awa bin Laden, a successful businessman in his lifetime. Bakr has been credited with expanding the construction sector in Saudi Arabia after pooling resources with Qatari Diar to carry out major construction works in the Middle East and the rest of the world. He’s in charge of the design and building of 30 parcels in King Abdullah Financial District in his home country, Saudi Arabia.
10. Fawaz Alhokair
Fawaz Alhokair is a Saudi billionaire businessman. In 1989, he founded Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Group with his two brothers, and started with just two menswear stores. The company now has 19 shopping malls in Saudi Arabia, and the local franchise rights to brands including Zara, Banana Republic, Gap, Nine West and Topshop. In 2015, Fawaz Alhokair bought the largest apartment at 432 Park Avenue, New York, a 8,255-square-foot (766.9 m2), six-bedroom, seven-bath penthouse with a library, for $87.7 million USD.
