Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has pledged to donate his entire $32 billion dollar fortune to charitable causes in the coming years. Prince Alwaleed has been in close coordination with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the charity that Alwaleed would like to serve as the model for his philanthropic endeavors. The 60 year old Saudi Prince is the nephew of the late King Abdullah. In Saudi Arabia, Prince Alwaleed does not currently hold any government rank. The prince has been involved in a number of lucrative business projects. This current promise of extreme generosity is unprecedented for the region, Prince Alwaleed plans to use the money to “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.”
See Ian Timberlake, Saudi Prince Alwaleed pledges $32 bn fortune to charity, Yahoo Finance, July 1, 2015.
Special thanks to Adam Hirsch for bringing this article to my attention.
