RIYADH, 8 August — The High Court has placed the assets of billionaire banker and industrialist Sheikh Saleh ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi under legal custody because of his declining health, Al-Hayat newspaper reported yesterday.
The court in Riyadh upheld a ruling to appoint a council to manage his businesses until he has fully recovered from health problems, the paper said.
Rajhi, 90, a self-made businessman who has around 60 children, has been suffering from poor health for the past few years.
His wealth, estimated at over $8 billion, is invested in banking, industry, agriculture, real estate and money exchanges.
Rajhi, who had worked as a porter and a salesman of scrap materials, opened his first money exchange company in Riyadh in the 1940s. That developed into Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp. which has assets exceeding $13 billion, 400 branches and some 700 ATMs throughout the Kingdom.
