This Sheikh does not boast of oil riches only. He has carved out a huge business empire for himself to make him a billionaire and one of the richest men on the earth today.

Prince Alwaleed was born to Prince Talal and Princess Mona El-Solh from the royal family of Saudi Arabia. He had excellent education and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Menlo College in 1979. He went on to do his Masters in Social Science in 1985 from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

He made a humble beginning in his business career with a loan of $ 30000 from his father and mortgaged his house for another $ 30000. He did business in land in Saudi Arabia. There after he bought a stake in Citicorp in the 1990s when it was in difficulty. After bailing out Citicorp from trouble, his wealth catapulted very fast.

 He later invested in bluechip companies like Apple Inc, AOL, Motorola and Worldcom. He also bought stakes in Hotel Industry in New York, Monaco and London. He is also known to have a stake in the English Premier League. His wealth is estimated to be $ 30 billion making him one of the richest men in the world.