A Saudi billionaire calling himself the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ made a $500 million bet on Russia around the time of the outbreak of the Ukraine war

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal invested more than $500 million in Russian companies in the days surrounding Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prince Alwaleed’s investment company, Kingdom Holding Co., acquired the escrow receipt due to Gazprom PSJC, Lukoil PJSC and Rosneft PJSC in February, according to a stock exchange submit. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

There is no specific date for the investments to be made, and the Saudi company did not respond to a question about whether it still owns them. The value of all those depositary receipts dropped rapidly after the war began, when trading in Moscow pause and Western sanctions were imposed on Russia.

Alwaleed, whose grandfather was the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, is one of the country’s richest men and most prominent international investor. More recently, he has been overshadowed by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by his cousin Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which acquired a 16.9% stake in Kingdom Holding Co. in the May.

Prince Alwaleed was also detained at the Saudi capital’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2017 along with other princes and government officials as part of what the state calls an anti-corruption investigation. . No formal charges were presented, and he was released 83 days later, after gaining “confirmed understanding” that was not disclosed to the government.

Kingdom Holding invested 1.37 billion riyals ($365 million) in Gazprom’s US deposit receipts in February, the largest holding of which was disclosed so far this year. It also invested 196 million riyals in Rosneft’s global depository receipts in the same month and 410 million riyals in Lukoil’s US deposit receipts from February to March.

Other investments

Kingdom Holding has invested $3.4 billion in global equities and custody receipts since 2020, according to filings, a rare bit of corporate disclosure. The largest stake is an investment of 2.5 billion riyals in Spain Telefonica SA from April to August 2020.

It also discloses shares in Uber Technologies Inc., TotalEnergies SE, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and BHP Group Ltd., acquired mostly in 2020 and 2021. The most recent deal the company disclosed was a 178 million riyal stake in Hercules Capital Inc., made in June. Shares of the investment company Ventures are up 17% since the beginning of July.

Prince Alwaleed, 67, has become one of the most famous Saudi investors after buying shares in companies like Citigroup Inc. and Apple Inc. He supports Crown Prince Mohammed’s modernization efforts, including giving women the right to drive.

More recently, he announced turnover shares in his label Rotana Music to Warner Music Group Corp., and he raised $2.2 billion by selling part of his stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain to Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC.

Alwaleed is known for his long-term investments and is a fan of famed investor Warren Buffett. He used to call himself Oracle Arabic equivalent of Omaha.