Khalid Abdullah Almolhem (; born 1957) is a Saudi Arabian businessman.

Biography

Khalid Abdullah Almolhem completed two degrees from the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in 1980; one in electrical engineering and the other in engineering management. Almolhem began his career in 1981 as an engineer with the

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

; after that he was a team leader in Saudi Industrial Fund from 1983 till 1988.

Business career

Following five years as president of Saudi Telecom Company, Almolhem was appointed as Director General of

Saudia Saudia (), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah. The airline's main hubs are the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the ...

, one of the biggest carriers in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and the flag carrier in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Since then, he has carried the airline through the privatisation process and has overseen a significant leap in performance and service quality. He was behind the historic moment when

joined the

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, after Star Alliance and Oneworld. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second ...

alliance of airlines,

is the alliance’s first member from the

and will offer access to destinations that were not previously available to

customers. During his tenure at STC, he successfully completed the privatization process of the company, which is the largest IPO in Saudi Arabian history. STC now considered to be as the largest Telecom company in the

and one of the tenth largest Telecom companies in the world. He joined

Saudi British Bank Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB; ) is a Riyadh-based Saudi joint stock company in which global banking group HSBC owns a minority stake. The bank traces its origins to the British Bank of the Middle East which was acquired by HSBC in 1959. In response ...

from 1989 to 1997, he held various positions at the bank such as Senior Manager Retail Banking, Area General Manager, Central Province Manager and Executive Director Investment Banking. From 1997 to 1998 he held the Chief Executive Officer position at Al Marai Company, which is one of the largest integrated Dairy and Food Company in the GCC. He Joined

Saudi Telecom Company The Saudi Telecom Company (shortened to stc; ), trading as STC Group provides ICT services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, across the Middle East and Europe. The group offers landline and fixed infrastructure, mobile and data services, and br ...

since it was established in 1998, he was the Chief Financial officer till 2001 then became the President till 2006. He attended numerous training courses, including a full year training course in banking and credit at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1984; Advanced Management Course for Executives at Harvard University; and various training courses in management and marketing from international universities. * Board Member of the Saudi British Bank from May 1996 till to date * Vice Chairman Board of Directors of Riyadh Cement Company till to date * Board Member of the National Company for Cooperative Insurance from 2000 to 2003 * Board Member of HSBC Investment Bank since 2004 till 2007 * Board Member of the Aseer Holding Company since 2006 till 2010 * Board Member of King Abdullah Economic City * Chairman of Saudia Catering * Chairman of Saudia Cargo * Chairman of Saudia Ground Handling Services

Arrest

On 4 November 2017, Khalid Abdullah Almolhem was arrested in

in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee. This was done on authority of Crown Prince

Mohammad Bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the '' de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, ...

References

21st-century Saudi Arabian businesspeople Saudia Living people 1957 births {{saudi-bio-stub