ADVERTISEMENT

Billionaire Alwaleed Hires Deutsche Bank’s Saudi CEO for Deals

Billionaire Alwaleed Hires Deutsche Bank’s Saudi CEO for Deals

(Bloomberg) -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s investment firm Kingdom Holding Co. hired Deutsche Bank AG’s chief executive officer in Saudi Arabia as head of international investments, people familiar with the matter said.

Tamim Jabr will join Kingdom Holding later this year, said the people, asking not to be identified because the appointment isn’t public. Jabr was Deutsche Bank’s first hire in Saudi Arabia and had been with the lender for 16 years. Before becoming CEO of Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia in 2017, he was head of corporate and investment banking in the kingdom.

Billionaire Alwaleed Hires Deutsche Bank’s Saudi CEO for Deals

His departure comes as CEO Christian Sewing prepares to announce the latest in a series of turnaround plans to cut cost and boost profitability. The revamp may include a headcount reduction of as many as 20,000 positions, the scaling back of some investment banking businesses, as well as asset disposals, people familiar with the matter have said.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment and a spokesman for Kingdom Holding didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Global Dealmaking

Kingdom Holding’s international portfolio includes stakes in ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc., and hotels chain Accor SA. The company is also set to become an investor in Uber Technologies Inc. as a result of its cash and stock offer to acquire Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem, in which Kingdom Holding is an investor.

The prince, who was detained in what the government called a corruption crackdown, said shortly after his release in January 2018 that he was working with advisers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to find investments as large as $3 billion for his firm. Since then, he’s invested $250 million into Snap Inc. and $267 million in music streaming service Deezer.

Alwaleed’s fortune, which mostly consists of his 95% stake in Kingdom Holding, has fallen to $15 billion from a peak of about $36 billion in 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

--With assistance from Sarah Algethami.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Martin in Dubai at mmartin128@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Claudia Maedler

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.