Al Sanea was the highest climber on our Rich List last year with a net worth estimated at US$10bn, and this year finds himself as a new entry in our Power List. And it’s not surprising given that the former fighter pilot in the Kuwait Air Force now runs Saudi Arabia’s fourth largest privately owned company.
Al Sanea left his native country and relocated to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s where he began his contracting and construction business, Saad Group. He married into the Al-Gosaibi family, one of the Kingdom’s wealthiest and influential business clans and leveraged his connection to build his hugely successful company which now has operating capital estimated in excess of US$2bn, and a net worth substantially in excess of US$5bn.
The Al Senea Empire now comprises nearly 40 businesses stretching across five continents. The group engages in a variety of investments including leisure ventures such as shopping malls and golf courses to commercial and sophisticated information technology developments. A firm believer in ‘Saudisation’, the group employs more than 13,000 people and is committed to promoting education opportunities and improving healthcare services in the kingdom.
In 2007, Al Sanea acquired a 3.1% stake in HSBC, the world’s second largest bank, for US$6.6bn, his second largest investment to date.
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