Last year we grouped together the entire Al Rajhi banking family into one — having looked more closely this year, we admit this wasn’t entirely accurate, as the family’s shares in Al Rajhi bank are divided between members, many of whom do not work closely together.
Having split them up, top of the tree is undoubtedly Sulaiman Al Rajhi, chairman of Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia’s largest Islamic bank. He owns the largest cut of the bank’s shares — though the plus 50 percent fall in the bank’s share price in 2008 has affected him badly. In addition, he has a range of side business interests from cement production to organic agriculture.
Established by royal decree in 1988, Al Rajhi Bank’s origins date back to the 1940s when it started operating as a money changer in the kingdom. Today, its operations include retail, corporate and investment banking.
The biggest Islamic bank in the Middle East reported an increase in profits of 3.7 percent for the three months to the end of September 2008 to $468.5m thanks to rising income from lending and investment activities.
A leading philanthropist, Sulaiman founded the SAAR Foundation, a flagship corporation representing charities, think tanks, and business entities.
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