Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal pledges to give £20bn fortune to charity
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is to give away his fortune to charity when he dies.
The Prince said he would be moving considerable wealth to his Alwaleed Philanthropic Foundation over the coming years.
At a news conference at the headquarters of this investment business Kingdom Holding, Prince Alwaleed said:
Philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world.
The sixty-year-old prince, who said his plan was modelled on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other US philanthropic groups, will set up a board of trustees charged with deciding which projects deserve his money.
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The decision "will be allocated according to a well-devised plan throughout the coming years", Prince Alwaleed said.
The four-times married prince, reported to be one of the world’s richest men, will still be holding on to his publicly-listed investment business.
This is very much separate from my ownership in Kingdom Holding, the prince said at the announcement.
Prince Alwaleed is the majority shareholder in Kingdom Holding, which has holdings in a number of businesses, including banking and financial services, property businesses, media companies and internet and technology firms.
In April Prince Alwaleed said he would give each of the 100 fighter pilots that took part in Riyadh's latest air strikes in Yemen a new Bentley. He soon withdrew the pledge after a backlash on Twitter, in which he holds a $300m stake.