Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, of Saudi Arabia, announced plans this week to donate his entire $32 billion fortune to charity.
"The philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief, and create a more tolerant and accepting world,” the
Saudi prince said in a press conference Wednesday, The Independent reported.
The money will go to the royal's new foundation, Alwaleed Philanthropies. The organization will work to promote healthcare, female empowerment, and disease control, as well as provide electricity to rural villages, build orphanages, and disaster relief.
He says he is modeling his philanthropy plan to be like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to diminish poverty and inequality around the globe. The Foundation encourages wealthy individuals and public figures, including Mark Zuckerberg, to pledge a portion of their money to charities.
“Philanthropy is a personal responsibility, which I embarked upon more than three decades ago and is an intrinsic part of my Islamic faith. With this pledge, I am honoring my life-long commitment to what matters most — helping to build a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world for generations to come,” the prince said, according to The Independent.
The prince is a chairman of Saudi investment company Kingdom Holding and has admitted that part of his donation will be from his personal stake in the company. The chairman has emphasized that the company will not be selling shares nor will the share price be
impacted as a result of his philanthropy, Reuters reporters.
Kingdom Holding has expressed interests in Euro Disney theme parks,
Four Seasons hotels, and Citigroup, according to Al Jazeera. The company has been trying to increase its investments in recent years and just last week the prince signed an agreement with French authorities to create a French-Saudi investment fund with an estimated net worth of $400 million.
Prince Alwaleed claims to have given $3.5 billion to several charities over the last 35 years through Alwaleed Philanthropies, Al Jazeera noted. However, for this donation pledge he did not establish a time frame for when he will donate all of the funds. He did, however, stress that he did not have a deadline.