Bakr bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden ( ar, بكر بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن; born 1946) is the former chairman of the Jeddah-based Saudi Binladin Group and the former largest shareholder in the Group, with a 23.58% holding. He is the son of the family's patriarch,

Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden Muhammad Binladin ( ar, محمد بن لادن, translit=Muḥammad Binlādin; – 3 September 1967) was a Saudi tycoon who founded the Saudi Binladin Group. He worked primarily in the construction industry and became the wealthiest non-royal Sa ...

, and a half-brother of Osama bin Laden.

Education

Bakr bin Laden attended college at the University of Miami School of Business at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

in the United States.

Career

Despite the Arabian Peninsula's comparatively small construction sector compared to other regions of the world, Saudi Binladin Group grew substantially under bin Laden's management. Under his leadership, the firm joined with Qatari Diar, a

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

-based real estate company, to launch a joint venture holding company, which is expected to have a significant capital base. The new venture will have two umbrella firms, one of which will carry out large contracting and construction works in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

and the rest of the world. It is also currently working to secure a $994.6m contract to design and build 30 parcels in the King Abdullah Financial District in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, Literal translation, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi Arabic, Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyad ...

. In April 2018, while under detention by the Saudi government, Bakr transferred his investment stake in Saudi Binladin Group to the government of Saudi Arabia.

Arrest

On 4 November 2017, Bakr bin Laden was arrested in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

in a corruption crackdown conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee and detained without trial. Bakr was initially detained at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh and later held in a publicly-unknown location. The Saudi government seized the deed to a villa owned by Bakr overlooking the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. In January 2019, Bakr bin Laden and several other detainees were released by the Saudi government. In addition to bin Laden, those released include

Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi ( ar, محمد حسين علي العمودي; born 1946) is a Saudi billionaire businessman. He was born Ethiopia in 1946 to a Yemeni father from Hadhramaut and Ethiopian Amhara mother from Wollo. In 2016, ...

, a businessman with substantial investments in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

and with

Amr Dabbagh Amr Al-Dabbagh (born 1966) (Arabic:عمرو الدباغ) is a Saudi businessman and politician. Education Al-Dabbagh obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration from King Abdulaziz University. He also attended executive programs in manag ...

, a former government minister who once led the

Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority The Ministry of Investment (MISA) (), till 2020 as the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) (), is a government ministry in Saudi Arabia that oversees foreign investment in the country besides issuing licenses to foreign investors. I ...

, which is designed to attract foreign investment in Saudi Arabia. His release followed global pressure on the Saudi government and Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. ...

following the

assassination of Jamal Khashoggi On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist was assassinated by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His b ...

by Saudi agents at the Saudi consulate in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

References

External links

History Commons The History Commons is a website and organization that documents events and issues of great social and political significance, focusing primarily on events and issues from the 1970s to the present day. The History Commons operates under a Creative ...

Bakr Mohammed bin Laden
1946 births Bin Laden, Bakr Bakr Bakr Bin Laden, Bakr People named in the Paradise Papers Bakr Bakr {{SaudiArabia-bio-stub

Education

Career

Arrest

See also

References

External links