THE PRINCE
Inside the $10 billion empire of power player Alwaleed
It's 2:30 a.m. in Saudi Arabia's desert capital, Riyadh. But sleep is the last thing on the mind of a little-known but impressive young man who is emerging as one of the world's most powerful investors. Sitting in one corner of his new $20 million futuristic sports complex--complete with tennis courts, high-tech muscle machines, and bowling alleys--Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud is working the telephones, canvassing the globe for new properties. As he talks, a dozen Bedouin retainers play cards on the floor, while parrots and exotic songbirds warble away in a nearby two-story cage.
But it is Alwaleed's performance that rivets attention. In a six-hour blitz, tracking the progress of deals, he takes dozens of calls placed by private operators through the satellite uplinks at his palace next door. What's striking is how seamlessly he glides into each conversation, whether it is about financing a hotel in Lebanon or selling a block of shares on the Paris Bourse. Deal-of-the-night is clearly Canary Wharf, the London office complex that is Europe's largest real estate project. A call to his new partner, Canadian developer Paul Reichmann, irons out a last-minute snag, meaning a signing could take place within weeks. Alwaleed is content. ``I've got a rule of thumb,'' he says, as a white-robed servant silently offers small cups of coffee. ``Anything that's worth $4 billion and costs $1 billion, buy it.''
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