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HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), met with Mr. Eric Schmidt Executive Chairman of Google and an accompanying delegation. The delegation included Mr. Head of Android Business Development and Partnerships, MENA, Mr. Jared Cohen, Director, Google Ideas, Ms. Frances Townsend, CNN National Security Analyst and Former Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush, Mr. Dan Keyserling, Chief of Staff, Google Ideas and Mr. Khaled Koubaa, Policy and Government Relations Manager, MENA, Google. The meeting was also attended by Dr. Adel Alsayed, Executive Director for Private Equity, International Investments, Mr. Mohammed Fahmy, KHC's CFO, and Ms. Nada Al Sugair, Executive Director of Finance and Administration of HRH's Private Office.
During their meeting HRH and Mr. Schmidt discussed political, business and economic issues. The two also discussed Prince Alwaleed's investments in the US in light of being the largest individual foreign investor there. Also, on the agenda of discussions was future potential business cooperation between KHC and Google in the technology field.
In 2013, Prince Alwaleed met with Mr. Eric Schmidt in Chicago, United States of America and in the same year, His Highness met with Mr. Eric Schmidt at The Savoy hotel, UK. Also, Prince Alwaleed and Google's Schmidt held a lunch meeting in the presence of, HRH Prince Khalid Bin Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud.
HRH has significant investments in the US in the financial sector via Citigroup, in the media and entertainment sector through 21st Fox Century and in the hotel sector through the Fairmont New York Plaza one of New York's most distinctive landmarks, Four Seasons hotel via the management of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in which KHC hold a 47.5% interest, and in the Social Media and Technology sector via Twitter. In addition to the investment in Jingdong Inc. (JD.com), shares of JD.com began trading on the Nasdaq in May 2014 under the symbol 'JD' in which KHC and Prince Alwaleed hold an equally combined stake of its capital.
His Highness first invested in Citigroup in 1991, and is the largest individual shareholder in the company. In 2008, Prince Alwaleed participated in the private offering of convertible preferred securities of Citigroup. The new direct investment was made alongside an exclusive group of leading international investors. The Prince converted the preferred shares in 2009 into common shares (voting shares). Prince Alwaleed has 7% (voting shares) through KHC in 21st Fox Century and KHC that is 95% owned by Prince Alwaleed, is the second largest shareholder in 21st Fox Century after the Murdoch family. Moreover, 21st Fox Century owns 19% stake in Rotana that is privately owned by Prince Alwaleed.
The New York Plaza that is partially owned by HRH through KHC underwent a $400 million renovation and reopened a few years ago. The hotel is managed by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) in which KHC holds a substantial interest.
Founded in 1980, KHC is a publicly traded company which was listed on Tadawul (the Saudi Stock Exchange) in 2007. KHC is one of the world's most successful and diversified business organizations, highly respected in the field of investments and recognized as an elite player in the Arabian Gulf region, and internationally. The Company is recognized as one of the largest foreign investors in the United States. KHC's portfolio has its major interests in investment categories ranging from luxury hotels management hotel companies (Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Raffles Holding Intl and Mövenpick Hotels, Resorts AG and Swissotel) and real estate (Kingdom Tower and project in Jeddah and Kingdom Riyadh project) to hotel real estate investments such as (The Plaza, New York, Savoy Hotel, London and Four Seasons, George V Hotel, Paris and other hotels). KHC also has investments in Petrochemical (Tasnee) Media and Publishing (News Corporation and Saudi Research and Marketing Group), as well as in Entertainment (Euro Disney S.C.A). In addition, Finance and Investment services (Citigroup), Social Media and Technology (Twitter and Jingdong). Moreover, the Company has investments in Education (Kingdom Schools), Health Care (Medical Services Projects Company), Aviation (NAS Saudi Arabia) and Agriculture (Kingdom Agricultural Development Company - KADCO Egypt).
© Press Release 2015
