Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
In November 2017, Saudi Arabia set off an "anti-corruption storm". At that time, Saudi Arabia set up the Saudi Arabia's "Supreme Anti-Corruption Council" chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hundreds of wealthy businessmen, senior officials and 17 princes were detained at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, and more than 1,200 personal and corporate-related accounts were frozen. In the end, this unprecedented "anti-corruption storm" ended in January 2019, when Saudi authorities announced the recovery of 400 billion (about $107 billion) of Saudi riyals.
As the Saudi authorities continue to fight corruption, some members of the Saudi royal family who have "spent money" have begun to face the dilemma of "tight pockets in their hands". According to foreign media reports on April 25, a group of "shy" Saudi princes are selling hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas assets to maintain their luxurious lives, while hiding their wealth from the attention of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed.
Previously, these senior members of the Saudi royal family amassed billions of dollars of wealth each year through oil, real estate sales, and acting as intermediaries in transactions, but now these traditional means of "making money" have been banned. In addition, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed has made several reforms in recent years, cutting welfare allowances for thousands of royals, including vacationing abroad with pay and helping them pay for daily expenses such as utilities. Starting this year, the Saudi royal family has once again "increased the size", when more than 4 domestic workers will be levied a tax of $2500 per person, and some members of the royal family will have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
The Saudi government reportedly spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year to pay for these allowances. Some of these royals spend as much as $30 million a month, sources said. "These people don't have jobs; they have a lot of employees, and they're afraid (Crown Prince Mohammed)." One person familiar with the matter said that now these Saudi princes "want cash in their pockets, not visible wealth".
Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and art in the United States and Europe
After losing their main source of income, some members of the Saudi royal family are selling overseas assets to get cash to pay daily bills, including property maintenance, taxes, employee wages and berthing fees for planes and boats, a person familiar with the matter said. "Their standard of living is beyond anyone's imagination. The cost of living (previously) was too high and they needed time to get used to it. The person familiar with the matter said.
Since the "money bags" were tightened, Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and art in the United States and Europe. Assets recently sold by Saudi princes reportedly include a $155 million British estate, two yachts over 200 feet long, and Mughal jewelry given by the late king as a wedding gift. There's also a mansion in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood, which the Saudi royal family sold for a record $290 million in 2020, and a Paris mansion next to the Eiffel Tower for more than $87 million.
Former Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar bin Sultan
Foreign media reported that the people who sold overseas assets were once Saudi power figures, including the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. A representative said Prince Bandar had sold all his overseas assets "because he saw greater benefits from investing in Saudi Arabia".
According to people familiar with the matter, in view of the changes in the global economy and the domestic situation in Saudi Arabia, many Saudi princes have begun to adjust their lifestyles "open source and throttling". Some of them have also tried to mortgage their global assets to raise cash to make up for the lack of traditional sources of income. Saudi Prince Fahd bin Sultan was also sued by Credit Suisse in November for refinancing a $55 million superyacht and a $48 million property in south London for defaulting on loans, according to court documents.
Gary Hersham, founder of Beauchamp Estates, a luxury house trading company that has helped Saudi royals trade many times, also revealed that overall, the younger generation of the Saudi royal family no longer needs or uses the mansions bought by their parents, because they "prefer cash" that have always spent a lot of money. "They don't want to be too extravagant, that's the trend." Some of them have recently opted to buy smaller homes, he said.
Red Star News reporter Xu Huan
Edited by Pan Li
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