October 12th, 2011
By Jeffrey Towson / 杰弗里·陶森
沙特王子阿尔瓦利德最近宣称他在建造下一座世界最高楼，高度超过1000米，可能达到1600米。它将俯瞰这个星球任何建筑，无可置疑这会是有史以来最伟大的地产项目之一。
这座大厦将坐落在沙特阿拉伯西部港市吉达，由阿尔瓦利德王子和世界最大房地产公司Emaar共同开发，后者建造了迪拜第一高楼Burj Khalifa——这座828米的大厦也是目前世界最高楼。以我在这座大楼工作几年的经历，我可以证实，摩天大楼确实比你想象中更酷。而下一座新的世界第 一高楼酷在哪里？
一，“摸天”的大厦
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Filed under: China, Emerging Markets, Jeddah, Kingdom Holding, Kingdom Tower, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed, Real Estate • Leave a Comment
September 11th, 2011
Daily Mail has published fantastic pictures of the new Jeddah tower. The text is below:
Incredible new images of what the world’s tallest tower will eventually look like have been revealed.
The $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower, which will stretch 3,280ft into the Saudi Arabian sky, has so far only been illustrated through concept sketches and a rendering showing the bank-busting building from afar.
But these amazing artist impressions detail up-close what the exterior of the sleek, streamlined tower will look like and how the site will fit in with surrounding buildings.
Filed under: Alwaeed, Jeddah, Kingdom Tower, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized • 1 Comment
August 4th, 2011
Filed under: Alwaeed, Jeddah, Kingdom Holding, Kingdom Tower, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed, Real Estate, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized • Leave a Comment
February 6th, 2011
Keren Blankfeld’s recent Forbes article chronicled the fascinating entry of real estate billionaire Sam Zell into Mexico and Brazil. True to character, he is cutting a wide and bold path into the emerging markets.
But Mr. Zell would be well advised to take a brief look at Prince Waleed – the world’s first and still most successful emerging market investor.
Long before he became America’s largest foreign investor; the owner of Citi and Fairmont-Raffles; and the guy with an Airbus 380 as a private plane (it is still unclear whether or not it will contain a swimming pool), Waleed was a billionaire emerging markets real estate investor.
For example, Waleed has one real estate project that covers 9M sqm of land and contains a one-mile golden skyscraper. Another contains 14,000 homes and covers an area the size of Manhattan. And he now directly or indirectly owns over 200 hotels around the world. He, like the British Empire of old, has created an empire on which the sun never sets.
In my previous position as Waleed’s Head of Direct Investments for MENA and Asia Pacific, what continually shocked me was how easily he moved between geographies; operating agnostically between emerging vs. developed markets. He could look at Africa on Monday, Europe on Tuesday, China on Wednesday, and the US on Thursday (nobody works in the Middle East on Friday.)
So I suggest there are good lessons for Mr. Zell’s emerging markets’ ambitions to be found in Waleed’s history. My recommendations as to a few:
Lesson #1: Sometimes It’s About the Market – So Go Big
Zell’s focus on supply-demand fundamentals has naturally led him to look at Brazil, where there is growing demand fueled by a deep and rising middle class. Millions of Brazilians are buying their first homes and apartments. Zell’s focus on businesses that benefit from this macro-trend, such as retail, construction, and affordable housing companies, is both logical and pretty smart. In an attractive long-term market, you want to “go big and local”.
But where Zell targeted Brazil, Waleed targeted Africa. Not only does it have a similarly attractive macro-picture – an entire continent of growing demand – but it also suffers from widespread investor bias. International investors are scarce and prices are low. An attractive macro picture is even better when mispriced.
Waleed also didn’t limit his “go big and local” approach to just real estate. While his hotel investment group, Kingdom Hotel Investments, is buying and building hotels across Africa, his pan-Africa private equity firm, Kingdom Zephyr, is targeting the growth more broadly. In many emerging markets it’s easier to play across the board than in the West. Waleed’s lesson for Zell: go bigger in these cases.
Lesson #2: Sometimes It’s About the Deal – So Go Surgical
Prestigious foreign investors, such as Waleed and Zell, can find themselves in advantaged negotiating positions in many emerging markets. They have unique reputations. They can access foreign capital. They can access Western capabilities (brands, partners, technologies). This helps in Brazil but it can be ridiculously powerful in places like Mongolia or the Philippines.
In these locations, you don’t want to go after the entire market, but you definitely want to go after such highly advantaged deals. Buying cheap waterfront hotel properties in Beirut (i.e., Waleed) can be done with spectacular returns. Buying or building office towers on Century Avenue in Shanghai (i.e., Hines) lets you capture a unique asset. Buying the largest movie theater chain in Turkey (i.e., Tom Barrack) can be done quickly and profitably. Waleed’s lesson for Zell: sometimes it’s about the market. Sometimes it’s about the deal.
Lesson #3: A Foreigner and His Money Are Easily Parted
While reputation can be a strength in getting a deal done, it usually doesn’t protect your claim long-term. Getting in is easy. Holding on can be a problem. The emerging market landscape is littered with prestigious investors who made investments and then lost them (ask Rupert Murdoch about his China investments).
For this problem, Mr. Zell stresses the importance of a local partner. But Waleed relies more on control of foreign brands (i.e., Four Seasons), operating systems and other capabilities to strengthen his claim to the asset. Capabilities are much better protection in the long-term.
An additional caveat to Zell’s focus on getting a good local partner is that it is often tough to date the prettiest girl in school. Top local partners in emerging markets have too many suitors today. The lesson for Zell: Western capabilities will both better protect you and broaden your dating pool.
Lesson #4: Long-Term a Multi-Prong Approach Works Best
Waleed walks effortlessly between developed and developing markets – and it’s mostly the result of a multi-prong approach. “Going big and local” plus “going surgical when you’re strong” gives you a more powerful approach.
This is Waleed’s most important lesson for Mr. Zell. A multi-prong approach not only works best but also lets you go much bigger much faster. And really, why just be an emerging market investor when you can be a global tycoon?
Filed under: Alwaeed, Emerging Markets, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed • Leave a Comment
June 11th, 2010
如果说沃伦·巴菲特是世界上最出色的投资家，那么，尚能与其争锋者，非沙特王子阿尔瓦利德莫属了。在过去9个年头，作为王子身边的理财顾问，我也经历了一段别开生面的人生旅程。
我相信，阿尔瓦利德王子的经历一定会成为许多中国投资者的标本。上世纪80年代，他怀揣着仅有的3万美元，一头扎进商海。历经20年打拼，总资产攀升到惊 人的280亿美元。与此同时，他也从最初的那个第三世界国家投资者跃升为国际名流，跻身金字塔的顶端。自此，全球媒体开始关注起这位来自阿拉伯的“巴菲 特”。
然而，阿尔瓦利德王子的阿拉伯神话并未落幕。2004年，他被“福布斯财富榜”评为世界第四大富豪、美国最大的私人境外投资者。3年后，他重金入主花旗银 行，成为该行的首席股东。紧接着他更大肆收购传媒公司，成为仅次于默多克的世界第二大传媒大亨。基于这些传奇，甚至连巴菲特都谦虚地称自己为“美国的阿尔 瓦利德”。
阿尔瓦利德王子为人所津津乐道的投资项目，莫过于他在中国银行、花旗银行、时代华纳和苹果等高端企业上的“押宝”。去年春天，他联合世界首富比尔·盖茨， 耗资37亿美元收购了四季酒店集团。从此，酒店资产成为阿尔瓦利德的投资新宠，其名下包括Fairmont、Movenpick等300多家遍及全球的大 酒店。
他的投资几乎渗透到人类生活的各个层面，参股的公司还包括迪斯尼、eBay、princeline.com以及新闻集团。王子的投资狂热从未停歇，投资视 野开始聚焦于房地产市场，他旗下的房地产项目已是整个陆家嘴面积的三倍之大。现如今，他在吉达（Jeddah）建造的摩天大楼高达1500 米，是三幢环球金融中心的总和。
在乘私人波音747奔波于世界各地之余，王子总是在沙特首都利雅得（Riyadh）的办公室内专心工作。在保守的沙漠国度，王子的不动产事业重心——王国 中心，位于利雅得最繁华的大道上。这幢高达300米的摩天大楼已成为沙特首都的地标。有趣的是，作为大楼的主人，王子自己的办公室却只坐落于顶楼一间不起 眼的小房间。
他的办公室弥漫着战争般紧张的氛围，更是各国政商界名人们的必经之所。我在阿拉伯的8年时间里，早已熟识了与这些名人打交道的生活，英国前首相托尼·布莱尔、比尔·盖茨以及亨利·克拉文斯都是此处的常客。
多数时间里，阿尔瓦利德住在位于利雅得北部的行宫里，那儿坐落着他为子女建造的小宫殿，此地在Google地图上很容易查到。可是，每逢周末，王子却保持 着阿拉伯特有的风俗习惯：在广袤的大沙漠中安营扎寨。不过，那个足以容纳数百位客人的营地已经无法满足王子的胃口。于是，他正设法在沙漠的东部兴建一个 120英亩的新营地。
2008年，阿尔瓦利德的惊人之举又让他登上了世界各大报刊的头版，他买下了惟一一架“空客A380”作为自己的私人座驾，这座“飞行城堡”的高度令人咋 舌，相当于5层楼房。每年8月，阿尔瓦利德便开始其遍及10-15个国家的环球之旅。他还从詹姆斯·邦德电影《巡弋飞弹》中汲取灵感，定做了一艘282英 尺长的游艇。他喜欢同家人一起驾着游艇，沐浴在地中海的阳光里，完成一个月的轻松旅途。
对我而言，为王子理财的日子也是我人生中最华彩的篇章。这些年来，我如同一只候鸟，离开纽约的家，来到中东，并最终在上海定居。一路上，我自身的投资经验 也积累不少。最初，我只是负责打理一些建设医院和商场的小项目，时至今日，我已能够应对银行收购、兴建摩天大楼等大型投资项目了。
其实，在王子手下工作绝非易事，他拥有30多年的投资经验，熟悉各类商业投资信息。因此，他手下的经理人必须具备超强的分析和表达能力。另外，他的肾上腺素非常旺盛，难以容忍任何人浪费时间。
我至今还记得第一次向王子陈述简报的“窘境”。2001年6月，我被规定在3分钟时间里向他报告一个有关问题医院的调查分析——我将80页的内容浓缩到三 四页。我汇报完之后，阿尔瓦利德却自顾自地把头转向另一边，一脸凝重地盯着电视机。我一个人呆坐在一边，茫然不知所措。
阿尔瓦利德的办公室里极具个性地安装了6台电视机。在他办公桌的左手边，紧挨着正在处理的日常文书，堆着一大摞报告书；他面前的好几部电话，不时会同时响 起。在他办公室待过的人都知道，他的注意力无时无刻不在各种事情间来回切换，行政人员一刻不停地进出他的办公室，为他端上刚煮好的茶，抑或呈上相关文件。
结果，他的眼神猛然间回到了我这边。让我措手不及的是，他将我之前呈交的报告书递还给我，上面满是他用绿色墨水勾画出来的横线和圈圈。随后，他便像打枪一 样抛出了一连串问题：整个项目需要多少现金？在市场上的比重如何？具体的操作性怎样？他的问题总是鞭辟入里的，并且，任何没有实际意义的回答都会被他无情 打断。10分钟后，我们的会议告一段落，另一小组人马立刻鱼贯而入。跟随在他身边的8年里，我已经熟悉了这种机关枪式的提问方式，而3分钟陈述时间，已经 是他所能给你的极限了。
对于中国的投资者而言，阿尔瓦利德王子的财富人生无疑是最具说服力的。相比巴菲特、索罗斯等世界顶级投资家，他是惟一一个从发展中国家走出来的成功者。他实现了许多中国人梦寐以求的财富梦想——白手起家、本土崛起、海外壮大，最终成就了国际巨头的地位。
（作者为知名投资人，本文专供财富堂，由袁晨雨、任蕙兰编译）
Filed under: Alwaeed, China, Jeddah, Kingdom Holding, Kingdom Tower, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed, Real Estate, Uncategorized, Winners and Losers • Leave a Comment
June 2nd, 2010
Ok. As an ex-Kingdom Holding person, I am clearly biased. But you have to stand in awe of KHC’s real estate projects in the Middle East. The One Mile skyscraper in Jeddah is a testament to the Prince’s ability to do one-of-a-kind deals – which being un-reproducible can command lasting premiums.
Combining the Jeddah project with the 50M sqm of land under development in Riyadh and Kingdom Holding is the largest real estate developer in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian real estate market is both the largest in the Middle East and highly fragmented among low-skilled local players. With a couple of impressive land and development deals, Kingdom Holding now dominates the Saudi Arabian real estate in both size and technical ability.
The first official GGR winner is Kingdom.
Filed under: Alwaeed, Jeddah, Kingdom Holding, Kingdom Tower, Mile Skyscraper, Prince Waleed, Winners and Losers • Leave a Comment
Jeffrey Towson is an investor, professor and best-selling author focused on the emerging markets (China, Middle East, etc.) – and their increasing collision with the West....[read more]
