Alwaleed bin Talal: Saudi Prince to donate entire $32bn fortune to charity
Prince Alwaleed said philanthropy is a 'personal responsibility'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Saudi Prince will donate his entire $32 billion (£20bn) fortune to charity as part of a pledge modelled on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced his intention to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes in a press conference on Wednesday.
Speaking in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Prince Alwaleed said his vast wealth would go towards promoting health, eradicating diseases, providing electric to villages, building orphanages, providing disaster relief and empowering women through his foundation, Alwaleed Philanthropies.
"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,” his statement said.
"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 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation works to improve health care, education and reduce extreme poverty around the world. It asks the wealthy to pledge the majority of their wealth to philanthropy and counts Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook as pledgers.
The Prince will continue to retain his publicly-listed investment business, Kingdom Holding. He stressed that there was no deadline for donating all of the funds.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments