Citigroup, Twitter, Lyft: Prince’s Arrest Touches Many
- 7 years ago
Citigroup, Twitter, Lyft: Prince’s Arrest Touches Many
A former United States ambassador, Chas W. Freeman Jr., said it could be
that Prince Alwaleed “has been strongly identified in Saudi with civil society, which is by its very nature a counter to concentration of power.”
“He has a reputation,” Mr. Freeman said, “for being quite outspoken
and blunt and being critical of other parts of the royal family — and he’s not well liked.”
Others said they were surprised at the takedown of someone who has been an ambassador to international business.
The surprising arrests of Prince Alwaleed and other prominent figures in the private sector
and technocratic class, experts said, could shake investor confidence in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom tries to shed its image as an oil-dependent petrostate.
“I haven’t heard anything about Alwaleed being politically active in a way
that would threaten M. B.S.,” said F. Gregory Gause III, an expert on Saudi Arabia and a professor at Texas A&M University, referring to the crown prince by his initials.
HONG KONG — With the arrest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the prominent billionaire investor,
Saudi Arabia has touched one of the richest and most influential investors in the world.
But despite his wealth, Prince Alwaleed was not seen as particularly powerful within
the Saudi royal family or as a threat to the crown prince’s consolidation of power.
A former United States ambassador, Chas W. Freeman Jr., said it could be
that Prince Alwaleed “has been strongly identified in Saudi with civil society, which is by its very nature a counter to concentration of power.”
“He has a reputation,” Mr. Freeman said, “for being quite outspoken
and blunt and being critical of other parts of the royal family — and he’s not well liked.”
Others said they were surprised at the takedown of someone who has been an ambassador to international business.
The surprising arrests of Prince Alwaleed and other prominent figures in the private sector
and technocratic class, experts said, could shake investor confidence in Saudi Arabia as the kingdom tries to shed its image as an oil-dependent petrostate.
“I haven’t heard anything about Alwaleed being politically active in a way
that would threaten M. B.S.,” said F. Gregory Gause III, an expert on Saudi Arabia and a professor at Texas A&M University, referring to the crown prince by his initials.
HONG KONG — With the arrest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the prominent billionaire investor,
Saudi Arabia has touched one of the richest and most influential investors in the world.
But despite his wealth, Prince Alwaleed was not seen as particularly powerful within
the Saudi royal family or as a threat to the crown prince’s consolidation of power.