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In Magazine's Rich List
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Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal says Forbes magazine
libelled him when they estimated his
worth at $20billion instead of $30billion
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A Saudi prince is suing Forbes magazine for libel because it said he was
only worth $20billion in its annual rich list instead of $30billion.
Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world's richest businessmen, claims the
magazine underestimated his wealth by £9.6billion when it placed him at
26th in this year's list.
Being listed as worth $29.6billion would have placed him in the list's
top ten.
Alwaleed accused Forbes of 'flawed and inaccurate, displays bias against
Middle East investors and financial institutions' in an interview with
the Sunday Telegraph in March.
The prince has now brought libel action against the magazine's publisher
Randall Lane and two journalists in the High Court in London, reports
the Guardian. He will claim that the Rich List caused serious harm to
his reputation and to his company Kingdom Holdings' finances.
His company Kingdom Holdings controls investments including stakes in
Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
His property includes the Savoy Hotel, the Plaza in New York, the Four
Seasons hotel chain and a stake in the owners of London's Canary Wharf
complex.
Forbes calculated the prince's wealth based on the value of his known
investments instead of Kingdom's share price on the Taduwal, the Saudi
stock exchange, it said.
The prince told the Sunday Telegraph : 'I am not pursuing it because of
my wealth, but because they are accusing Saudi Arabia of being
manipulated because we have no casinos. This is unacceptable’.
A spokesman for Forbes told the Guardian: 'We're very surprised at
claims that Prince Alwaleed has decided to sue Forbes, particularly if
he has done so in the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction that has nothing
whatsoever to do with our recent story which raised questions about his
claims about his wealth.
'The Prince's suit would be precisely the kind of libel tourism that the
UK's recently-passed libel reform law is intended to thwart. We would
anticipate that the London high court will agree. Forbes stands by its
story.'
Source - DailyMail