Saudi Arabia frees Prince Alwaleed and other billionaires held since November in graft crackdown - latimes

Saudi Arabia freed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and several of the kingdom's most prominent businessmen from detention this weekend, clearing out the Ritz-Carlton hotel that served as a jail for the country's elite during a controversial crackdown on corruption.

Alwaleed, the billionaire chairman of Riyadh's Kingdom Holding Co. who owns stakes in Citigroup Inc. and Twitter Inc., returned home on Saturday after reaching a settlement with authorities, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. He will remain at the helm of his company, the official said, declining to provide the other terms of the deal. Waleed al-Ibrahim, head of a major media firm, and retail billionaire Fawaz Al Hokair were also freed after agreeing to deals, another government official said.

The prince's release came just hours after Alwaleed told Reuters in an interview that he expected to go home soon and retain control of his company, calling his detention a "misunderstanding" and expressing support for the kingdom's rulers. With the suspects' names and evidence against them never officially announced, the detentions had raised concerns about transparency among foreign investors — vital to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to diversify the economy away from oil.

Kingdom Holding didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Through Kingdom, Alwaleed has built up a diverse portfolio, ranging from high-end hotels such as the Savoy in London and the Plaza in New York to Lyft and Apple.

Alwaleed has also had a long relationship with Disney, dating to 1994, when the prince agreed to buy about $300 million in newly issued Euro Disney stock. That deal helped restructure the debt of the then-flailing Euro Disney theme park.

Just last year, Alwaleed agreed to exchange nearly all of Kingdom's Euro Disney shares for Walt Disney Co. shares, allowing Disney to take full control of the Paris theme park during a time when the Burbank entertainment giant sought to delist Euro Disney from the Euronext stock exchange. Kingdom retains a 1% stake in Euro Disney. - More

Saudi Arabia frees Prince Alwaleed and other billionaires held since November in graft crackdown

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed released as corruption probe winds down - Reuters