Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, born on March 7, 1955, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is a grandson of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and Riad El Solh, Lebanon's first prime minister. Raised partly in Riyadh and Beirut, Lebanon, following his parents' divorce, he attended King Abdul Aziz Military Academy before pursuing higher education in the United States, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Menlo College in 1979 and a Master of Science in Social Sciences from Syracuse University in 1985. A nephew to multiple Saudi kings up to King Salman, he is a Saudi billionaire investor and member of the Saudi royal family, known for his global business empire and influence in U.S.-Saudi relations. He built his fortune independently starting in the early 1980s through savvy investments, founding Kingdom Holding Company, where he serves as chairman and majority owner, with stakes in global firms like Citigroup, Four Seasons, and as the second-largest shareholder in X (formerly Twitter). Known as the 'Arabian Warren Buffett,' Al-Waleed amassed a net worth estimated at around $20 billion as of 2025, investing across banking, real estate, media (including Rotana Group), hospitality, and technology. He chairs United Saudi Commercial Bank and has been involved in high-profile deals, such as acquiring stakes in Citicorp during its crisis in the 1990s, which yielded massive returns. In November 2017, he was detained in Saudi Arabia's anti-corruption purge under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, held for nearly three months before release in early 2018 without formal charges; Forbes temporarily removed him from billionaire lists during this period. He remains a key figure in Saudi lobbying efforts in the U.S. A prominent philanthropist, Al-Waleed founded Alwaleed Philanthropies in the 1980s, committing $32 billion in 2015 to causes including women's empowerment, disaster relief, intercultural dialogue, and community development; he was the first Arab Muslim to sign the Giving Pledge in 2016. His efforts include major donations post-2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and for Palestinian aid. He holds Lebanese connections through family and maintains a global presence, bridging East-West relations.