Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud is one of the richest men in the world. With a net worth valued at $20 billion, Prince Alwaleed is no stranger to investing. Alwaleed has a 5% stake in Apple shares and has known Steve Jobs for many years. Saudi Prince joined Maria Bartiromo in a CNBC Exclusive.
Prince Alwaleed extended his condolences to Jobs’ family & friends. “Clearly we have lost a big legend. We will miss him a lot. Clearly he wanted to conquer the world with consumer products,” Prince Alwaleed said.
3 Apples That Changed the World
Prince Alwaleed pointed out three “apples” that changed the world, the “Adams Apple”, the “Newton Apple” and “Steve Jobs’ Apple.”
The Prince talked about his meetings with Jobs and what he saw in the man and in the company, “When I first invested in Apple I had many meetings with my friend Steve Jobs and he had a vision. That was before the iPod, Phone, iPad and clearly he wanted to conquer the world with consumer products, he was telling me that. Thank God his dream was fulfilled before he left us,” Prince Alwaleed said, then added, “I have confidence his legacy will continue because he has built a culture (that is) very innovative and very much pushing forward. I think he leaves us with the company very very healthy and it’s one of the highest market capitalization in the world,” added.
Citi On the Right Track
He’s also a big shareholder of Citigroup .
“I can assure you Citi needs zero recapitalization. Because of the risk with some European banks, there’s a domino effect on some banks in US including Citigroup. Citi exposure to Europe is minimum," said Prince Alwaleed.
When asked about earnings, Saudi Prince said "We'll see Citi is on the right track."
Europe Slow to React to Crisis
When asked if the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility ) will bring stability to Europe, Prince Alwaleed said “I just concurred with my other friend Mr. Geithner…they are very slow in reacting to the crisis they are facing.”
“Europeans need to unite, have united voice…to get the countries out of this quagmire,” Saudi Prince added.
Other holdings include Four Seasons Hotels and other real estate in the Kingdom as well as stakes in several Saudi companies.
Donna Burton contributed to this article.
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