Saudi Prince Pledges $32 Billion to Good Causes With Women's Rights a Focus

By Ahmed Al Omran 

RIYADH--Saudi Arabia's Prince al-Waleed bin Talal on Wednesday pledged $32 billion to philanthropy, with the empowerment of women one of his priorities.

The prince said the sum represents his entire fortune and will be used for humanitarian projects such as the empowerment of women and young people, as well as disaster relief and disease eradication.

Prince al-Waleed, who described his decision as "a commitment without boundaries," cited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a role model for his philanthropy.

A nephew of Saudi King Salman, the prince controls most of his wealth through the investment firm Kingdom Holding, in which he owns a 95% stake. His investments include sizable stakes in companies such as Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc., Twitter Inc. and Time Warner Inc.

Kingdom Holding also owns a small stake in News Corp., which owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

"The donation will be allocated according to a well devised plan throughout the coming years," the prince said in a statement. "It will be based on a strategy that is supervised and managed by a board of trustees headed by me to ensure that it will be used after my death for humanitarian projects and initiatives," he added, without giving further details on the donation plan.

Although Saudi Arabia has been widely criticized for its gender inequality, with women still forbidden from driving and facing several other restrictions, Prince al-Waleed has been a staunch and vocal advocate of women's rights in recent years.

While many of the charities based in Saudi Arabia are linked to members of the royal family, this is the first time a prince has announced he will donate his entire fortune to philanthropy.

In 2011, Saudi banking billionaire Sulaiman al-Rajhi announced that he would donate the bulk of his money to charity through an endowment that bears his name.

Prince al-Waleed told the press that the planned donation won't affect publicly traded Kingdom Holding, as no shares in the company were being sold, and that he would continue to run it as before.

He said his children, Prince Khaled and Princess Reem, were supportive of his decision to donate his wealth. Both of them were present at the announcement in the Saudi capital.

Write to Ahmed Al Omran at [e-mail]

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