Abdullah Obian

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

A thousand-mile journey begins with one step, and a trip to billions begins with an idea, and this is what happened with billionaire Prince Alwaleed, who was born in Riyadh on March 7, 1955.



Signs of ingenuity and intelligence were reflected in his personality since childhood, which is not surprising as King Abdulaziz, the founder of the Kingdom, is his grandfather, and Riad Al-Solh, the prime minister of the first independent government in Lebanon, is his maternal grandfather.



Ever since childhood, Prince Alwaleed loved the challenges and did not believe in the impossible.



He is characterized by a strong memory and love of mathematics, and numbers are always present in his speech and dealings.



In 1979, the prince received a bachelor’s degree in management and economics with honors from Menlo College in California and earned a master’s degree in social sciences from Syracuse University in New York.



His commercial trip began on January 1, 1980, with $30,000 that he secured as a grant from his father Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz. He debuted his venture in the world of finance and business from a small office in the Al-Fakheriyah neighborhood of Riyadh.



He began his business in the real estate and stocks, but soon went bankrupt after only four months.



This failure did not deter Prince Alwaleed and affect his ambitions and determination to continue, so he again sought his father’s support and secured 10 times the first amount, $300,000, allowing him to continue his business journey.



His small office had only four employees — the prince himself, an office manager, a secretary and a coffee and tea worker — in addition to one toilet used by all employees.



The prince launched his Kingdom Establishment for Trading & Contracting but went bankrupt for the second time and again sought his father’s support.



Prince Talal, however, refused and told him that he had bought him a piece of land and built him a house on the plot. He also told him: “You must depend on yourself and I will hand you the property, but if you wish you can mortgage it and get a loan. It is up to you and you are free in your decisions.”



Prince Alwaleed did indeed mortgage the property through Citibank, which later became one of his investments, received a loan of SR1 million and began a stronger journey, benefiting from his previous failures.



Success was in sight then and many towers and skyscrapers were launched from the small office, which he kept for 34 years and still maintains as a sign of fulfillment.

Follow Abdullah Obian on Twitter @Abdullah_Obian