Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)’s extravagant spending since emerging as the main power broker in Saudi Arabia has repeatedly made headlines.
Top secret sources revealed that MBS built three royal palaces on the outskirts of Riyadh, the NEOM, and Egypt’s El Alamein. He spent more than 4 billion SR on the three luxurious buildings.
The three palaces have specialized helipads for helicopters and high-tech amenities.
During his trip to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) stayed at a lavish chateau dubbed “the world’s most expensive home” when he purchased it in 2015.
The Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes, outside Paris, is a new-build mansion intended to mimic the extravagant luxury of the nearby Versailles Palace, once the seat of the French royal family.
The 7,000-square-meter property was bought by an undisclosed buyer in 2015 for 275 million euros ($300 million at the time), leading Fortune magazine to call it “the world’s most expensive home.”
MBS, 36, was reported two years’ later by The New York Times to be the ultimate owner via a series of shell companies.
MBS earlier bought a $500-million yacht in 2015 and was also reported to be the mystery buyer of a $450-million Leonardo da Vinci painting in 2017.
Along the same line, MBS has directed more resources toward what he calls “megaprojects,” including luxury seaside resorts and yachting marinas.
One of the largest super yachts in the world, Serene, is currently owed by the Saudi Crown Prince with a cost of $500 million after he bought from a Russian billionaire.
The 440-foot yacht has two pools and a helipad, and was said to be an impulse purchase.
With no shortage of wealth, it comes as no surprise that the Saudi royal family is known for living lavishly. Still, some of their pricer purchases have left some stunned. For example, in 2017, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the aforementioned Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known by his initials MBS) purchased Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” for $450.3 million.
The family in total is estimated to comprise some 15,000 members; however, the majority of power, influence and wealth is possessed by a group of about 2,000 of them. Some estimates of the royal family’s wealth measure their net worth at $1.4 trillion. This figure includes the market capitalization of Saudi Aramco, the state oil and gas company, and its vast assets in fossil fuel reserves.
Media reports earlier revealed the “untold truth of the Saudi royal family,” who is known for leading quite the lavish lifestyle while ruling over one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
The 2015 purchase appears to be one of several extravagant acquisitions — including a $500 million yacht and a $450 million Leonardo da Vinci painting — by a prince who is leading a sweeping crackdown on corruption and self-enrichment by the Saudi elite and preaching fiscal austerity at home.
