I noticed an interesting story worth paying attention to: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal has returned to the Forbes 2025 billionaire list as the richest man in the Arab world, with a net worth of $16.5 billion. It's not just the number that stands out, but especially how this guy builds wealth – he's strategic, diversified, and always a step ahead.

So, who is he really? Born in 1955, the prince is not one of the many Saudi elites – he is the grandson of the founder king of Saudi Arabia and also the grandson of Lebanon's Prime Minister. He was already on the Forbes list in 2017 with $18.7 billion, but then disappeared after 2018 when Forbes stopped counting Saudi billionaires. Now in 2025, he's back, and not only that: he's the only Saudi billionaire from 2017 to reappear, ranking first among the 15 Saudis listed this year. Globally, he is in 128th place, but here we are talking about the richest in the Arab world – a category where he dominates without competition.

The foundation of his fortune? Kingdom Holding Company, which he founded 45 years ago and owns 78.13%. This stake alone is worth about $6.4 billion. But it's the total portfolio that impresses: $19 billion strategically allocated across three main sectors – finance, hospitality, and real estate – with expansion into 18 smaller sectors.

In tech, Kingdom Holding is the second-largest shareholder of X (ex Twitter) and Musk's xAI. Last year, he increased his investment in xAI to $800 million across rounds B and C. Alwaleed believed in Musk as early as 2022 during the Twitter acquisition, and doubled down when the X-xAI merger was announced in March. He expects his investment in this joint venture to reach $4-5 billion in the near future. His portfolio also includes Meta, Uber, Didi, Lyft.

Hospitality accounts for nearly 31% of the portfolio – he owns 23.7% of Four Seasons in joint venture with Bill Gates (had 47.5% but sold half to Gates in 2021 for $2.21 billion). Additionally, he owns 6.8% of Accor, the French group with over 40 brands like Fairmont and Raffles.

Finance? In 1991, he invested $800 million in Citigroup, which grew to $10 billion by 2005. Today, Kingdom Holding owns 1.06% of Citigroup and 16.2% of Banque Saudi Fransi (1.8 billion). Real estate makes up 25.9% of the portfolio – Kingdom Centre in Riyadh and Jeddah Tower (over 1,000 meters, will be the tallest in the world).

In aviation, he holds 37.2% of Flynas, the low-cost airline operating 61 aircraft. According to the prince on X, Flynas will go public on Tadawul this year with a target of $2 billion. In healthcare, he owns 4.9% of Dallah Health and manages Kingdom Hospital. In education, he owns 89.8% of the Kingdom School System, which saw a 14% increase in enrollment last year.

What’s striking is the consistency: this is not someone who accumulates wealth randomly. He is the richest in the Arab world because he builds portfolios, diversifies, invests long-term, and knows when to enter emerging sectors like AI. He deserves to be on the radar of those following major global investors.