Read The Influential Success Story of Waleed Al-Ibrahim

Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, better known as Waleed Al-Ibrahim, is a Saudi businessman and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). He is considered the first owner of a successful television channel in the Middle East. Learn with us the success story of Waleed Al-Ibrahim and his achievements.

Who is Waleed Al-Ibrahim?

Waleed Al-Ibrahim was born in 1962 in Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His parents are Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al Ibrahim and Haya bint Assaf Al Assaf. He has eight siblings, and two of his older brothers, Abdulaziz and Khaled, are successful businessmen in the United States. His sister, Al-Jawhara Al-Ibrahim, is one of the late King Fahd's wives. His other sister, Maha Al-Ibrahim, is married to the former Deputy Minister of Defense and Aviation, Prince Abdul Rahman. His third sister, Mahdia Al-Ibrahim, is married to the former Minister of Higher Education, Khaled Al-Anjari.

Waleed Al-Ibrahim studied media in the United States in the 1980s and completed his higher education there. During the 1990s, he was a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of United Press International, and he also served as Chairman of the Board until the early 1990s.

He ranked 27th on the list of the richest businessmen in the Middle East with a fortune of $2.9 billion in 2009. Now, his net worth is more than $6 billion.

Waleed married Sheikha Ghada Al Ibrahim, who was his cousin. After her death, he married Sheikha Hana bint Abdullah bin Saad Al-Qasim, and had six children: Khaled, Majed, Haya, Hala, Noura, and Abdulaziz.

Waleed’s Greatest Achievements:

After completing his education, Al-Ibrahim established ARA Studios for radio and television in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was his first project in the field of media. Later, this group was called the ARA International Group, which became a media group consisting of many radio and television companies that broadcast to the entire Arab world. His company, ARAvision, was registered in Riyadh in 1995. The company was also provided with an exclusive license to provide wireless cable service to the main cities in the Kingdom, so it was able to scan the content of satellite channels before broadcasting them. 

Al-Ibrahim founded the MBC Group in London in 1991 with another businessman, Salih Kamal, and launched the first independent Arab satellite station at that time, but in reality, this channel was linked to King Fahd indirectly through Waleed. Waleed Al-Ibrahim was still in his twenties when he founded MBC, which is part of ARAvision, and MBC at that time acquired United Press International, which was bankrupt, for $3.9 million.

Subsequently, this media group launched several Arab film and television channels including, MBC 2, MBC 3, MBC 4, and MBC Action, as well as MBC Farsi and MBC Bollywood. Although it is known that MBC is owned by Al-Ibrahim, half of the shares belong to the son of the late King Fahd and his nephew, Abdulaziz bin Fahd. In February 2003, Al-Ibrahim launched Al-Arabiya, intending to offer an alternative to the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel, focusing on professionalism and providing objective reporting rather than the specific opinions that dominate most of the time.

Awards, Ranks, and Personal Life:

He was honored for his many contributions in the field of Arab media, as he was chosen among the 20 best Gulf businessmen according to Amwal magazine in 2005, and he was also chosen to be ranked 27 among the 100 most influential people by Arabian Business in 2007. Waleed was named Man of the Year in the field of media at its fourth session in 2008 and received other awards such as the Knight Award from the Arab League in 2006. In 2016, Jordan's King Abdullah II presented him with the Medal of Independence for his contributions to the development of Arab media. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Communication (MBRSC) at the American University in Dubai.