World Tribune.com

Saudi billionaire buys up Internet stock during decline

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 19, 2000

LONDON -- Saudi Arabia hasn't discovered the Internet. It's taking over.

Saudi billionaire Alwaleed Bin Talal has acquired $1 billion worth of shares in Internet companies and hi-tech companies. The nephew of King Fahd took advantage of recent stock declines in the technology and information sphere, according to Middle East Newsline.

The acquisitions by Bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co., were made last month. These included a $50 million stake in such U.S.-based Internet giants as Amazon.com, DoubleClick.com, eBay.com, InfoSpace.com, Internet Capital Group Inc., and Priceline.com.

To complement the holdings, Bin Talal bought $150 million in AT&T and a $200 million stake in MCI WorldCom.

A company statement said Bin Talal also bought $50 million of shares in blue chip offers such as Coca-Cola Co., Ford Motor Co. and Walt Disney Co.

So far, Bin Talal has sunk more than $1.3 billion in media and technology stocks. He is estimated to be worth $20 billion.

Friday, May 19, 2000

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