Arrests could shake investor’s confidence in Saudi Arabia

The arrest of prominent Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal will likely shake the confidence of many investors in Saudi Arabia.

The prince has large shares in companies like Twitter, Citigroup, Lyft, the Four Seasons Hotels, Apple and 21st Century Fox. He also owns the George V hotel in Paris, has a stake in the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and controls satellite television networks in the Middle East.

The prince had entered into business ventures with some of the world’s largest corporate giants including Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg. According to Forbes, the 62-year-old prince has a net worth of $18.7 billion and owns 95 per cent of Kingdom Holding which is worth approximately $10 billion.

Al-Waleed was arrested on Saturday along with 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers, Reuters reported on Sunday. According to the news agency, the allegations against Prince Al-Waleed include money laundering and bribery.

Read: Saudi Arabia arrests 46 for ‘stirring divisions’

The arrest came only hours after the establishment of a new anti-corruption commission by King Salman. The king is reported to have granted the commission broad powers to freeze the assets of anyone it considered corrupt.

Saudi Arabia has recently held a major investment conference to encourage investment in the oil-dependant Kingdom.