Bakr bin Laden


Bakr bin Laden is the former chairman of the Jeddah-based Saudi Binladin Group and the former largest shareholder in the Group, with a 23.58% holding, and, according to some, was the "true ruler of Jeddah". He is the son of the family's patriarch − Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden − and a half-brother of Osama bin Laden.

Career

Despite the region’s small construction sector, he has managed to expand the business. In March, the firm joined together with Qatari Diar to launch a joint venture holding company, which is expected to have a massive capital base. The new venture will have two umbrella firms, one of which will carry out mega contracting and construction works in Qatar and the rest of the world. It is also currently working on a $994.6m contract to design and build 30 parcels in King Abdullah Financial District, Saudi Arabia.
In April 2018, Bakr transferred his stake in the Saudi Binladin Group to the government of Saudi Arabia.

Arrest

On 4 November 2017, Bakr bin Laden was arrested in Saudi Arabia in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee and detained without trial. This was done on authority of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Bakr was initially detained at The Ritz-Carlton, Riyadh and later hold in a publicly-unknown location. The Saudi government also seized the deed to a villa owned by Bakr overlooking the Red Sea.
In January 2019 the kingdom quietly released Bakr bin Laden together with several other prominent detainees. Among those reportedly released were Mohammed al-Amoudi, a businessman who owns much of Ethiopia and Amr Dabbagh, a former government minister who once led the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, which aims to attract foreign investment. The move came amid unprecedented global pressure of the kingdom and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the country’s consulate in Istanbul.

Education

Bakr bin Laden attended college at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, United States in 1979.