Thursday, November 21, 2013

Financial Fracas:Prince Alwaleed versus Forbes

Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is still engaged in a tussle with Forbes magazine that resulted in his filing a defamation claim in London's High Court on April 30.Appearing on Bloomberg TV's Charlie Rose show Wednesday,the prince said Forbes magazine characterised the Saudi stock market,the Tadawul,as being a casino,whereas it is actually tightly regulated.They got my company's market cap wrong.I didn't even care about that;but to say Saudi Arabia is a casino,that's crossing the red line,Prince Alwaleed complained.
The conflict began even before Forbes published its celebrated Rich List of the world's wealthiest people in March,which the prince heartily disagrees with.He was ranked number 26,with a Forbes estimate of his net worth of 20 billion dollars.His advisors had been intermittently lobbying the publication to boost his ranking,Forbes asserts.In the event,he feels the magazine undervalued his Kingdom Holding firm by 9.6 billion.The Rich List was flawed and innacurate,displaying a bias against Middle East investors and fiancial institutions,he told The Sunday Telegraph.
In a March 25 Forbes article called "Prince Alwaleed and the curious case of Kingdom Holding stock,"it was asserted that the Saudi stock market was subject to manipulation by the wealthy individuals who dominate it,and that King Abdullah had ordered a stop to it.A former Kingdom Holding executive referred to the market as a gambling site,the article reports.
The High Court claim names Forbes publisher Randall Lane,an editor and two journalists,Kerry Dolan and Francine McKenna,a source familiar with the matter said.It contends the Rich List caused harm to his reputation and the finances of his company,Kingdom Holding.
To win a defamation suit,the prince must prove that his reputation in England and Wales suffered serious harm and that Forbes caused Kingdom Holding serious financial loss.London is known as the center of libel tourism,as it is supposedly easier to prove such a claim there than in the US,for example.*
Kingdom Holding consists of large stakes in Apple,Twitter,Newscorp and Citigroup,as well as hotels such as the Savoy in London,plus the Four Seasons and the Plaza in New York,and the George V in Paris.Prince Alwaleed is the largest individual investor in the United States.He said the US economy is great and spectacular.Long term investors have no choice but to look to the United States.It will take decades for China to come even near to the United States.I'm optimistic in general about the world economy and about the United States particularly.America is down in many areas,but is not out,His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed insisted on Charlie Rose,citing entrepreneurs such as Google and Twitter.

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