Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim

Waleed Al Ibrahim was born in 1962{{cite news|title=Waleed Al Ibrahim|url=https://egypt.mom-rsf.org/en/owners/individual-owners/detail/owner/owner/show/waleed-al-ibrahim/|access-date=6 October 2020|work=Media Ownership Monitor Egypt}} and raised in Saudi Arabia.{{cite news|title=GCC's Most Admired Executives 2009|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/gccs-most-admired-executives/list?view=profile&itemid=150856|access-date=13 May 2012|work=Arabian Business|year=2009}}{{cite news|title=The War Inside the Arab Newsroom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/magazine/02ARAB.html|author=Samantha Shapiro|date=2 January 2005|work=The New York Times

|access-date=13 May 2012}} He has eight brothers.{{cite news|title=Rolls Royce in firing line on Saudi deal|access-date=13 May 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1998/feb/07/bae|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 February 1998|author=David Pallister|author2=Richard Norton-Taylor|author3=Owen Bowcott}} Two of his elder brothers, Abdulaziz and Khalid, are businessmen investing in real estate in the U.S.{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1991/09/09/75462/index.htm|title=The Billionaires 1991|work=Fortune|date=9 September 1991|access-date=13 May 2012}} His sister, Al Jawhara Al Ibrahim, was one of at least thirteen wives of King Fahd.{{cite news|author=Anna O'Leary|title=The Al Saud runs the country as a family fiefdom|work=Salem|url=http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january172012/saudi-relities-ao.php|access-date=2 April 2013|date=17 January 2012}} Another, Maha Al Ibrahim, married the former deputy minister of defence and aviation, Prince Abdul Rahman, full-brother of King Fahd. His third sister, Mohdi Al Ibrahim, is the spouse of the former Saudi minister of higher education,{{cite web|title=HH Princess Al Jawhara bint Ibrahim|url=http://al-jawhara-center.kau.edu.sa/Content.aspx?Site_ID=287&lng=EN&cid=40127|work=King Abdulaziz University|accessdate=14 May 2012|year=2010}} Khaled Al Angari.{{cite news|author=Baria Alamuddin|title=Princess Al Jawhara Ibrahim Al Ibrahim in her first interview|work=Ain Al Yaqeen|agency=Al Hayat|access-date=14 May 2012|date=7 May 2004|url=http://www.ainalyaqeen.com/issues/20040507/feat5en.htm}}

Al Ibrahim received education in Oregon, USA, during the 1980s{{cite book|author=J. E. Peterson|publisher=Scarecrow Press

|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000pete/page/68/mode/2up?q=king+khalid+bin+abdulaziz|title=Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia|year=2003|page=68|edition=2nd|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=9780810827806}}{{cite web|author=Kai Ryssdal|title=A talk with Middle East media mogul|work=Marketplace|date=12 March 2008 |access-date=9 November 2012|url=http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/middle-east-work/talk-middle-east-media-mogul}} and completed his higher education there.{{cite news|title=Sheikh Waleed al Ibrahim|date=May 2009|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/people/sheikh-waleed-al-ibrahim-155793.html|access-date=13 May 2012|work=Arabian Business}}

After completing his university education, Al Ibrahim founded the ARA Productions and Television Studios (ARAvision) in Saudi Arabia. It was his first enterprise in media. Later, it was called ARA Group International, becoming a media conglomerate that is made up of several radio and television companies airing the whole Arab world.{{cite journal|author=Mamoun Fandy|title=Saudi Opposition between Globalization and Localization|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|date=January 1999|volume=41|issue=1|pages=124–147

|jstor=179251|doi=10.1017/s0010417599001899|s2cid=143775443 }}

His company, ARAvision, was registered in Riyadh in 1995. The company was provided with an exclusive licence to deliver a wireless cable service to major cities in the Kingdom. Therefore, it was able to screen the satellite channels' content before being broadcast.{{cite journal|author=Naomi Sakr|title=Whys and wherefores of satellite channel ownership|journal=Satellite Realms: Transnational Television, Globalization and the Middle East|year=2001|url=http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=13&reading_id=1029&sequence=3|author-link=Naomi Sakr}}

Al Ibrahim founded MBC in London in 1991 with the late entrepreneur, Saleh Kamel, launching the first independent Arabic satellite TV station.{{cite book|author=J. E. Peterson|publisher=Scarecrow Press

|url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000pete/page/68/mode/2up?q=king+khalid+bin+abdulaziz|title=Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia|year=2003|page=68|edition=2nd|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=9780810827806}}{{cite news|title=The money factories: the making of the new media barons|access-date=11 June 2013|work=Video Age International|date=1 October 1996|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+money+factories%3a+the+making+of+the+new+media+barons.-a018920882}} The company was established to express the views of Saudi royal family.{{cite journal|author=Edmund Ghareeb|title=New Media and the Information Revolution in the Arab World: An Assessment|journal=The Middle East Journal

|date=Summer 2000|volume=54|issue=3|page=402|jstor=4329508}} It is part of the ARAvision. The MBC acquired United Press International in 1992 that was bankrupt at that time for $3.95 million to bolster its news-gathering scope.{{cite news|author=Youssef M. Ibrahim|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Saudis Pursue Media Acquisitions, Gaining Influence in the Arab World|date=29 June 1992|accessdate=4 June 2012

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/29/business/media-business-saudis-pursue-media-acquisitions-gaining-influence-arab-world.html?src=pm}}

Subsequently, the station introduced several movie and Arabic TV series channels including MBC 2, MBC 3 and MBC 4. Later, two more channels were launched. One of them is MBC Persia, broadcasting Hollywood films with Persian subtitles, and the other one is MBC Action, airing action movies. The MBC Bollywood was launched in 2013.

Al Ibrahim also launched Al Arabiya in February 2003 with the aim of providing an alternative to Al Jazeera. His goal for Al Arabiya was to position it as the CNN to Al Jazeera's Fox News. Through this position, Al Arabiya was thought to be a TV channel that is calm, cool, professional, providing objective reporting rather than for extremely emphasized opinions.

Although Al Ibrahim is widely known as the owner of the MBC, it is reported that fifty percent of the MBC profits were owned by King Fahd's youngest son and his nephew, Abdulaziz bin Fahd. It is further reported that Prince Abdulaziz dealt with both the profits and ideology of the MBC Channels, including Al Arabiya.{{cite web|title=Ideological and Ownership Trends in the Saudi Media|access-date=1 May 2012|work=Cablegate|url=http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09RIYADH651|date=11 May 2009}}

In the 1990s Al Ibrahim was shareholder and board member of the United Press International (UPI).{{cite journal|author=Allan Wolper|title=UPI Looks for Way out of Massive Debt|journal=Editor & Publisher|url=http://www.downhold.org/lowry/ep.html|date=24 April 1999|page=8}} He served as the chairman of the UPI board until the early 1999.

In 1990, the wealth of his brothers, Abdulaziz Al Ibrahim and Khalid Al Ibrahim, was reported to have been US$1.0 billion.{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/09/10/73983/|title=The billionaires 1990|access-date=15 August 2012|work=CNN/Fortune|date=10 September 1990}} It was argued that they made their wealth through being Boeing and Rolls-Royce representatives in Saudi deals. Their wealth was reported to have been US$1.2 billion in 1991. They had real estate investments in the US, including Marina del Rey in Los Angeles, a property near Disney World, and a hotel next to the Mayo Clinic. They also invested in Orlando real estate.{{cite news|author=Steve Coll|title=We all worship the same God October 1984 to February 1985|access-date=13 May 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/books/20080401_COLL_EXCERPT.html?pagewanted=print|date=31 March 2008}}

{{Main| 2017 Saudi Arabian purge}}

On 4 November 2017, Al Ibrahim was detained in Saudi Arabia in a corruption crackdown conducted by a new royal anti-corruption committee.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/saudi-ministers-national-guard-economy-dismissed-171104190619900.html|title=Saudi Arabia princes detained, ministers dismissed|work=Al Jazeera}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-arrests/saudi-billionaire-prince-alwaleed-detained-in-corruption-inquiry-idUSKBN1D506P|title=Future Saudi king tightens grip on power with arrests including Prince Alwaleed|author1=Stephen Kalin|author2=Katie Paul|date=5 November 2017|work=Reuters|access-date=7 November 2017}} Al Ibrahim was held at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Over the weekend of 26–27 January 2018, Al Ibrahim was released along with at least half a dozen other prominent Saudi businessmen detained in the probe, after being found innocent of any wrongdoing.

In May 2018, Saudi Arabian authorities allowed Al Ibrahim to leave the Kingdom for the first time since November 2017 to chair a strategy meeting at the headquarters of MBC Group in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Al Ibrahim had been required to remain inside the Kingdom as the government finalised arrangements to take a controlling 60 percent stake in MBC.

Following the meeting, the MBC Group released a statement, with Al Ibrahim quoted as saying: “The coming stage shall witness MBC Group’s entry into new markets and sectors, in various fields, with the group shifting a greater focus towards Saudi Arabia and neighbouring regions, in line with the current transformational positive changes occurring in the Kingdom.”

Al Ibrahim was the 27th richest Arab in the Middle East with the wealth of US$2.9 billion in 2009.{{cite web|title=Top 50 richest Arabs|url=http://www.middleeastinvestors.co.uk/richest_arabs.php|work=Emica Investments|access-date=13 May 2012}} In 2016, his net worth was estimated to be US$10.9 billion.

Al Ibrahim has been awarded for his contributions in the field of Arab media.{{cite news|title=Q&A with MBC Chairman Al Waleed al Ibrahim|url=http://www.aawsat.net/2008/02/article55259971|access-date=5 April 2013|newspaper=Asharq Alawsat|date=8 February 2008}} He was among top 20 prominent Gulf businessmen according to Amwal magazine in 2005.{{cite news|author=P. K. Abdul Ghafour|title=Saudis Top List of 20 Prominent Gulf Businessmen|url=http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=72702&d=4&m=11&y=2005|access-date=28 June 2012|newspaper=Arab News|date=4 November 2005}} He was chosen to be the 27th most influential Arab among 100 Arab personalities by Arabian Business in 2007.{{cite news|title=100 most powerful Arabs 2007|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/100-most-powerful-arabs-2007-147830.html|access-date=12 June 2012|work=Arabian Business|date=18 March 2007}} He was named the 'Media Man of the Year' at the 4th MENA Cristal Awards held in Lebanon in 2008.{{cite web|title=MBC Group Chairman Media Man of the Year|work=Ame Info

|url=http://www.ameinfo.com/147088.html|access-date=1 June 2012|date=17 February 2008}} He also received other awards, including the "Knight" award from the Arab League in 2006 and "Innovator of the Year" award from Arabian Business.{{cite news|title=Q & A with Arab Media Mogul Waleed Al Ibrahim|url=http://www.aawsat.net/2006/11/article55264542|access-date=5 April 2013|newspaper=Asharq Alawsat|date=23 November 2006}} He was chosen as the first among top 50 figures in MENA’s media, marketing and advertising industry in 2011.{{cite news|title=The 50 most powerful people in media, marketing and advertising in MENA

|url=http://www.albawaba.com/50-most-powerful-people-media-marketing-and-advertising-mena-380774|access-date=27 June 2012|work=Albawaba|date=29 June 2011}} He was named as the world's 66th most influential Arab personality by Gulf News in 2012, citing his prominent position in the Arab media.{{cite news|title=Top 100 world most influential Arabs|access-date=1 June 2012|work=Dubai Chronicle|date=6 March 2012

|url=http://www.dubaichronicle.com/2012/03/06/top-100-world-most-influentials-arabs/}} Arabian Business named him as the world's 24th most influential Arab among 500 others in 2012.{{cite news|title=Walid Al Ibrahim|work=Arabian Business|year=2012|access-date=25 August 2012

|url=http://power500.arabianbusiness.com/power-500-2012/profile/15236/}}

In May 2021, Al Ibrahim received the King Abdulaziz Order of Merit for his contribution to media and broadcasting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is considered the highest civilian honour in the country.{{Cite news|date=11 May 2021|title=MBC's Waleed Al-Ibrahim receives King Abdulaziz medal|url=https://arab.news/rz2hx|access-date=31 May 2021}}

• 100px Grand Master of the Order of Independence (Jordan; 2016){{cite web | title=ملك الأردن يمنح وليد آل إبراهيم "وسام الاستقلال" | website=Al Arabiya| date=11 May 2016 | url=https://www.alarabiya.net/last-page/2016/05/11/%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86-%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD-%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A2%D9%84-%D8%A5%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84 | language=ar | access-date=19 February 2024}}

Waleed bin Ibrahim is a member of the advisory board of the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) at the American University in Dubai (AUD).{{cite web|title=First Advisory Board Meeting of The Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication At AUD|work=American University in Dubai|url=http://www.aud.edu/news_events/2011/event_2011_0515a.asp|access-date=27 June 2012|date=15 March 2011}}

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Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

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Category:MBC Group