Bakr bin Laden is the chairman of the Jeddah-based Saudi Binladin Group, and his influence on the construction world is formidable. The Bin Ladin construction group is one of the kingdom’s biggest firms with estimated assets of around US$6.5bn.
The Bin Ladin construction group was founded by Mohammed Bin Ladin, Baker and Osama’s father, in the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah in the 1950s. The group grew into one of the major companies in the oil-rich kingdom when it was entrusted by the royal court with expanding Islamic holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
The Bin Ladin construction group also built several palaces in Riyadh and Jeddah for members of the Saudi Royal family, and carried out restoration work following an arson attack on Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque in 1969.
A major power broker in the Saudi business capital, Bakr tends to keep a low profile: “We have a mayor and all kinds of political heavyweights. But the true ruler of Jeddah is Bakr bin Laden,” says an informer for a recent piece in a German newspaper.
Follow us on
