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He likes to tell the tale of how he made his first billion or so out of a $15,000 gift from his father. Talal had also given his son a house worth $1.5 million, which Alwaleed mortgaged to raise capital. Along the way, he used some of the money to play that favorite game of Saudi royalty, land speculation, and quickly turned a $150,000 investment into a $2 million profit.
Alwaleed demonstrated his grasp of American business tactics when he launched the first successful hostile takeover of a bank in Saudi Arabia, winning the United Saudi Commercial Bank. Alwaleed believes the takeover made his name in Saudi Arabia while simultaneously giving him a vantage point for branching out into other businesses.
By 1991 Alwaleed had the itch to diversify overseas. Sagging oil prices had produced a severe recession in the kingdom, creating a feeling of unease made worse by Saddam Hussein's invasion of neighboring Kuwait. Alwaleed already owned 4.9% of Citicorp--a percentage that allowed his ownership to be anonymous. But with the bank wobbling and the stock falling, he soon made his name known by tripling his stake.
As of last week, his holding company was pursuing some 160 investment opportunities. Overseeing all this is an investment staff of 20 employees from Saudi Arabia and seven other countries. His payroll also includes a former White House communications expert--this is, after all, a man who spends $80,000 a month on phone bills--as well as a camel caretaker, a muezzin who calls the Muslim faithful to prayer from a minaret, and 18 soccer players whom Alwaleed pays to play games with his son, at his son's private field.
To keep his operation lean yet opportunistic, he outsources his consultants--Citicorp for investment banking, Arthur Andersen for company advice, Saatchi & Saatchi for p.r. and Hogan & Hartson, a Washington law firm, for legal matters. (Alwaleed is the first to notice that the initials of these firms form the acronym CASH.)
Alwaleed does not have what you would call regular hours. He arrives at his bank and slides behind the chairman's desk at 10 a.m. Three hours later, he heads across town to his office at Kingdom Holding. There he juggles scores of projects through meetings, phone calls and faxes until 3 a.m. the next day.
In between he takes a three-hour break, returning to his palace health club--an expansive aquamarine spa with an Olympic-size pool, tennis courts and a bowling alley--for a buffet lunch and light workout. When the job is finally finished, he takes a walk in the moonlight, has a light meal and sleeps five hours. On weekends he drives to a private desert encampment 45 miles from Riyadh, where he eats supper on a rug with Bedouin retainers called khawian, some armed with silver-handled Colt .38s.