We all know that, last month, Saudi’s richest man Al-Waleed Bin Talal was arrested in the corruption probe that took the whole world by a storm. However, we just found out that he may be able to get out of it… but with a price. According to The Wall Street Journal, Saudi officials demanded that Al-Waleed has to pay up to $6 billion for his freedom.
The 62-year-old Prince Al-Waleed, who is an early investor in a lot of big multinational businesses such as Twitter and Lyft, is being accused of bribery, money laundering, and extortion. It is estimated that his wealth amount to $18 billion. The prince’s former lawyer has mentioned that these allegations are not official, and they will not be unless a settlement has not been reached between the prince and the Saudi government.
However, Al-Waleed has stated that paying $6 billion is not the reason behind his hesitation, but rather the admission of guilt; which he does not want to do. So to please his consciousness, he has offered to give a big part of his company, Kingdom Holding to the Saudi government, in exchange for his freedom. Kingdom Holding Company currently has a market value of $8.7 billion, which has declined approximately 14% since Al-Waleed’s detention.