Prince Alwaleed Interview
by: cherokeeruby
11/16/00 7:02 am
Msg: 197037 of 197040
Prince Alwaleed is bullish on U.S.
By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 2:31 AM ET Nov 16, 2000
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia,
regarded as the world's wealthiest person outside of the U.S., said he is very
optimistic about the American financial markets.
The Prince, who has a net worth of an estimated $20 billion, took the
extraordinary step of giving a free-flowing, hour-long interview to about 40
reporters in his suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York Wednesday night.
The Prince has seldom, if ever, granted such access while visiting the U.S.
There was a reason that he was in a happy, chatty mood: He had received a
Lifetime Achievement Award by the Arab Bankers Association of North
America a few hours earlier.
He stressed that he is bullish about the U.S. economy because he sees little
cause to worry about a recession. He noted that the U.S. is far ahead of Europe
and "even Japan," and was pleased to see that unemployment was low and
that inflation wasn't a major threat. He said he foresees a "soft-landing" with
economic trends.
While stressing that he doesn't intend to broaden his Internet portfolio any
time soon, Alwaleed maintained that he continues to be upbeat about his
current Internet holdings, namely America Online (AOL: news, msgs),
Priceline (PCLN: news, msgs), Amazon.com (AMZN: news, msgs) and Ebay
(EBAY: news, msgs).
"The Internet is here to stay," he said, smiling and speaking in his
characteristic staccato style. "It's not going anywhere."
The Prince did concede that the Internet stocks probably wouldn't return to
the dizzying heights of 1999. "The hype is over - and I'm glad of it," he said,
noting that the more moderate gains are a healthy sign for investors.
Alwaleed, 43, is a private investor and entrepreneur. He began to rebuild his
investment portfolio in 1979 when he returned to his native Saudi Arabia after
received a B.A. degree in business administration from Menlo College in
California. He also has a Master's from Syracuse University and has been
awarded doctorates from universities around the world.
Noting that it's unusual that Alwaleed would consent to appear in such a
public setting, Citibank's Michael Jensen, Alwaleed's banker, said he is
"lifting the veil a little.
Personal computers
Alwaleed predicted that the personal computer industry will grow at a rate in
"the high teens or the low 20s."
Reiterating his support for his investment in Compaq (CPQ: news, msgs), he
said of the company: "The potential is still there."
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