Kamal Bahamdan (born 12 February 1970) is a Saudi Arabian businessman and equestrian.

Early life

Kamal was born in

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

, after attending high school he graduated in 1994 from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Manufacturing Engineering.

Career and controversies

He is

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and vice-chairman of the Bahamdan Group, established in the 1940s by his grandfather Salem Bahamdan in

Makkah Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

. It was incorporated in the 1950s in Riyadh by his father Abdullah Bahamdan the former MD and Chairman of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia, which was at the time the Arab world's largest bank. Since foundation, the Group has made more than 250 investments in a range of markets and sectors across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the United States. With his father now acting as chairman, under Kamal's management the Group expanded its investment operations, and presently has investments in over 130 companies employing over 8,000 people. In 2009, Bahamdan, with the backing of the Bahamdan Group, formed the global principal investment firm Safanad In March 2014, Safanad and Formation Capital sold a portfolio of 43 senior housing facilities and 37 skilled nursing facilities to NorthStar Realty for $1.05Bn. In June 2014, Safanad and Ron Packard, education company Stride, Inc. founder and former CEO, announced the launch of a new education company, Pansophic Learning. Upon establishment, the company immediately acquired from

K12 Inc. Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.) is a for-profit education company that provides online and blended education programs. Stride, Inc. is an education management organization (EMO) that provides online education designed as an alternative to tr ...

several assets including licenses to curriculum and technology, an international brick and mortar private school, a higher education platform business and the K12 business in the Middle East. P Bahamdan is also co-founder of the Al-Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation (est.2007), and was Managing Partner and co-founder of Washington DC-based international investment firm BV Group (est. 1995). In 2012 he was awarded the King Abdulaziz Order of Merit First Class and in 2006 was named a Forum of Young Global Leaders in business by the Forum of Young Global Leaders, an affiliate organisation of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. Safanad is also the owner of

HC-One HC-One is Britain's largest care home operator, with more than 275 care homes across England, Scotland and Wales specialising in dementia, nursing and residential care for older people. History HC-One was formed following the collapse of the UK ...

, an elderly care home provider working in the UK. A BBC Panorama investigation highlighted how private-equity investors such as Kamal Bahamdan negatively impact certain sectors of the economy, by diverting company money to finance expensive debts introduced by the investor. Companies part of HC-One's corporate structure have faced

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

due to the high cost of servicing its debt, ultimately funnelling money obtained through considerable care fees placed on vulnerable residents towards Safanad and Kamal Bahamdan, while providing poor quality of care.

Show jumping

Bahamdan is also a sports champion. Riding since the age of seven, he took further riding lessons in the United Kingdom every summer, and then started competing in local equestrian events, often against compatriots Ramzy Al-Duhami and Khaled Al-Eid. Whilst studying then working in finance in the United States he competed on the East Coast circuit, where he came to the attention of Ziyad Abduljawad, now managing director of Saudi Equestrian. In 2004, he moved his riding base to

Valkenswaard Valkenswaard () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of in and spans an area of of which is water. The name Valkenswaard ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, making his international competition debut in the same year, but competing only on a part-time basis. After winning the team and individual gold at the

2004 Pan Arab Games The 10th Pan Arab Games was an international multi-sport event which took place in Algiers, Algeria, between 24 September and 10 October 2004. It witnessed the participation of all Arab League members for the first time – 22 countries participate ...

, he won the team gold and individual silver medal at the

2011 Pan Arab Games The 2011 Pan Arab Games also known as the 12th Pan Arab Games took place in Doha, Qatar from 6 to 23 December 2011. This was the first time that the country had hosted the multi-sport event. Khalifa International Stadium was the main venue for th ...

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 (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

. Having competed at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, after the 2010

FEI World Equestrian Games The FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and are administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive S ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, he decided to concentrate full-time in the lead-up to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in London, England, working with

Jan Tops Johannes Augustinus Petrus "Jan" Tops (born 5 April 1961) is an equestrian from the Netherlands, who won the gold medal in the team jumping event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain riding Top Gun. He did so alongside Pie ...

. With the Saudi team coached by Stanny Van Paesschen, the team won bronze and Bahamdan came fourth in the individual event. He has since entered the

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predec ...

-sponsored

Global Champions Tour The Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) is an annual pre-eminent individual show jumping series that comprises up to 15 rounds of competition hosted around the world. It brings together the top 30 riders in the FEI Jumping World Rankings. It was ...

, winning the 2013 Riyadh Grand Prix with Noblesse des Tess. In 2013 he was appointed to the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) Jumping committee, for an initial four-year period. In February 2014 he was named runner up in the Arriyadiyah Awards for Sports Excellence, presented by Prince Nawaf bin Faisal.

References

External links

Bio at BusinessWeekBio at Saudi Equestrian
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahamdan, Kamal 1970 births Living people Asian Games medalists in equestrian Boston University College of Engineering alumni Equestrians at the 1996 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2000 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2006 Asian Games Equestrians at the 2008 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Saudi Arabia Olympic equestrians of Saudi Arabia Olympic medalists in equestrian Sportspeople from Riyadh Saudi Arabian chief executives Saudi Arabian investment bankers Saudi Arabian male equestrians Asian Games gold medalists for Saudi Arabia Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games