Sa'ud, al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz as-, Prince

▪ 1995

      In what was called a modern-day fairy tale, but also might turn out to be a shrewd business move, a wealthy prince in 1994 came to the rescue of an American company in trouble. Saudi Prince Walid made a large investment in Euro Disneyland Paris, which was suffering from severe financial difficulties, partly brought on by lower-than-expected attendance. The parent-company stock, Euro Disney S.C.A., had fallen by 20%, and the theme park had lost more than $1 billion since its opening in 1992. Prince Walid, the nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, invested $400 million in the troubled venture, part of his long-term goal of attaining $5 billion in wealth by 1998.

      Prince al-Walid ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz as-Sa'ud was born in 1954 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and reared there and in Beirut, Lebanon. He attended Menlo College in Menlo Park, Calif., and Syracuse (N.Y.) University, where he studied business and social science. In 1980, allegedly with $15,000 given to him by his father and a 130-room palace against which he could borrow, Prince Walid set out to make his fortune by negotiating big deals at bargain prices. In 1990-91 he bought nearly a 15% interest in the Citicorp banking group for about $800 million, a sum that he parlayed into nearly $2 billion. In addition, he held an 11% interest in the Saks Fifth Avenue retail chain. As the chairman of United Saudi Commercial Bank, a small but highly efficient and profitable concern, Prince Walid led a number of takeovers, including the 1993 acquisition of Panda Supermarket Co., which, after merging with Al-Azizia Supermarket Co., recorded a 10-fold increase in profitability in the first six months of 1994. In July Prince Walid acquired a 50% interest in the Fairmont Group of hotels in the U.S., and in September he completed a deal for a 25% stake in Canada's Four Seasons Hotels. In October he successfully negotiated the takeover of Saudi Livestock Co.

      Perhaps the prince's most highly publicized deal, however, was the 24% interest he bought in Euro Disneyland Paris. His plan was to turn the park around financially by investing another $100 million in the construction of a nearby convention centre, which, it was thought, would help draw conventioneers and their families to the theme park. If all went well, both Prince Walid and Euro Disneyland Paris would benefit.

      (ANTHONY L. GREEN)

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