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
Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a Saudi construction company headquartered in Jeddah, Hejaz. It is the largest construction company of the Middle East. The company is owned primarily by the Bin Laden family.
Founded by Muhammad Binladin in 1931, ...
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, 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, incl ...
in
Coral Gables, Florida in the United States.
Career
Despite the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
'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-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 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
The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) is a mixed-use financial district located near King Fahad Road in the Al Aqeeq area of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Managed by the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC), ...
in
Riyadh.
In April 2018, while under detention by the Saudi government, Bakr transferred his investment stake in
Saudi Binladin Group
Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a Saudi construction company headquartered in Jeddah, Hejaz. It is the largest construction company of the Middle East. The company is owned primarily by the Bin Laden family.
Founded by Muhammad Binladin in 1931, ...
to the government of Saudi Arabia.
Arrest
On 4 November 2017, Bakr bin Laden was arrested in
Saudi Arabia in a corruption crackdown conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee and detained without trial.
Bakr was initially detained at the
Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
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.][
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, a businessman with substantial investments in Ethiopia 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 of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Pri ...
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 body ...
by Saudi agents at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
See also
* Bin Laden family
The Binladin family ( ar, عائلة بن لادن, ) is an Arab family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of Saudi Binladin Group, a multinational construc ...
References
External links
* History Commons
Bakr Mohammed bin Laden
1946 births
Bin Laden, Bakr
Bakr
Bakr
Bin Laden, Bakr
People named in the Paradise Papers
Bakr
Bakr
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