Information Security & US & Life & Love & Fashion & Hacking & Passion

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

The Saudi prince who owns a double-decker "flying palace" and recently raised his bet on Citigroup lost $4 billion in the past year, according to a published report Sunday, showing that even the ultra-rich are getting pinched by the global financial crisis.

The pain is relative, of course. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal remains the world's richest Arab with a net worth of about $17 billion as of Dec. 2, Dubai-based magazine Arabian Business reported in its annual ranking. That is nearly twice as much as the second-richest on the list, but a considerable drop from the $21 billion the magazine said the prince was worth a year ago.

Arabian Business said it based its figure on a direct review of the prince's holdings and a face-to-face meeting with the man who's been dubbed "the Arabian Warren Buffett."

An official at Kingdom Holding Co., Alwaleed's investment company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alwaleed last month announced he would raise his stake in ailing banking giant Citi to 5 percent from less than 4 percent. The move has failed to significantly boost the bank's share price.

The Saudi royal's controlling stake in Kingdom Holding, which invests in well-known companies such as computer maker Apple Inc. and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., accounts for nearly $8 billion of his wealth, the magazine said.

Alwaleed also owns Middle East media company Rotana Holding, and controls more than $3 billion worth of real estate, including a 124 acre personal resort complete with a private zoo.

And then there's the Airbus A380 "superjumbo" jet Alwaleed bought and had outfitted for his personal use. It's valued at $330 million -- a little less than the price tag for his other two jetliners combined.

No. 2 on the list with $9.6 billion is Nasser al-Kharafi, a Kuwaiti businessman who holds the Middle East franchise for chains such as KFC, Hardee's and Pizza Hut. He's also the largest shareholder of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.

Another prominent name on the list: the Bin Laden family, which makes its money in the construction business. Arabian Business puts the net worth of the clan, which has tried to distance itself from its most notorious member, at $7.2 billion -- good for seventh place.

Altogether, the magazine said the world's 50 richest Arabs lost a combined $25 billion amid the global meltdown, much of it since the end of summer like investors elsewhere.

"The surprise is how much money everyone has lost," Anil Bhoyrul, editorial director of Arabian Business publisher ITP Executive Publishing Ltd., said in an interview. "The list we published is a lot different than the list we originally put together only a few months ago."

CAIRO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday cited $75 a barrel as a "fair price" for oil, the first time in years that the world's biggest exporter has identifed a target for crude prices.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said oil prices needed to return to $75 to keep the more expensive new projects at the margins of world supply on track. His comments may come as a relief to consumer nations fearful of a return to $100-plus oil. U.S. crude <CLc1> was valued at $55 at the close of trade on Friday.

"There is a good logic for $75 a barrel," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, OPEC's most influential voice, told reporters in Cairo, where the producer cartel was meeting. [ID:nLT557953]

"You know why? Because I believe $75 is the price for the marginal producer. If the world needs supply from all sources, we need to protect the price for them. I think $75 is a fair price," he said.

Saudi King Abdullah announced $75 as a fair price in an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah.

Naimi's comments stopped far short of suggesting OPEC adopt a new formal price target to guide policy. But the unexpected break from his customary refusal to cite any sort of preferred price will give markets a new reference point when world oil demand recovers from the current recessionary slump.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Saudi Prince and billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal says he will build the world's tallest building, planned to be over a kilometer (3,281 feet) high. The tower will be built in the Saudi town of Jeddah and will be part of a larger project that will cost $26.7 billion, (100 billion Saudi riyals) said the Prince's firm, Kingdom Holding Company.

The project, entitled Kingdom City, will span 23 million square meters (248 million square feet) and will include luxury homes, hotels and offices.

The booming city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has also joined the skyscraper race.

While the ever-growing Burj Dubai is already the tallest man-made structure in the world, the Nakheel Tower is set to go even higher.

Developers suggest the finished building will be at least 1 km tall.

While in Europe, Paris is leading the skyscraper revolution -- plans for a 50-story building have been given the green light, which will make it the first skyscraper to be built in the city for 30 years.

These buildings are part of a new generation of innovative, exciting skyscrapers set to appear all over the world over the next 10 years.

ome truly mind-blowing structures are being planned for the Middle East.

Hot on its heels, the Burj Mubarak Al Kabir, proposed for the planned 'City of Silk' in Kuwait, could also break the 1000-meter barrier.

While they may be mere midgets compared to the mega structures of the Middle East, Russia Tower in Moscow and the Okhta Center Tower in St Petersburg promise to provide some stunning eye candy.

Spiraling its way through the Chicago skyline, the Chicago Spire will have a striking corkscrew design, while a gleaming Freedom Tower is to be the highlight of the rebuilt World Trade Center. And proving the skyscraper renaissance is a global phenomenon there are stylish giants planned for Panama, Pakistan and South Korea.