According to news report, Saudi Arabia’s billionaire HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will donate his $32bn fortune to charities over the coming years.

Prince Alwaleed said in a statement that the “philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world.” The 60 year old Prince is the 20th richest person according to fortune magazine and 34th richest person in the Forbes’ “World’s Billionaires” list.

He added “In time all my wealth will go to good causes. Right now the bulk of the income not the assets will go to good causes,” Prince Alwaleed said during a press conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on July 1, 2015.

“This is very much separate from my ownership in Kingdom Holding,” announcing that the $34 Billion donation to philanthropic causes will come from his personal wealth. He added, “Philanthropy is a personal responsibility, which I embarked upon more than three decades ago and is an intrinsic part of my Islamic faith.”

Back in 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett announced the Giving Pledge. Since then, approximately 200 philanthropists, business owners and inspired individuals around the world followed their social good path, to give away more than half of their fortune in life or death. Gates and Buffett, who are worth $151bn combined, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, gave more than $46 Billion into the Gates foundation.

Bill Gates twitted “An admirable milestone! @Alwaleed_Talal inspires with a pledge to donate all of his wealth,” and posted a news link from The Wall Street Journal.

Prince Alwaleed is the chairman of investment firm Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) based in Saudi Arabia. KHC owns stakes in several prominent organizations around the world. Below are the list of global investments of KHC in various industries.

Social Media and Technology

• Twitter
• AOL
• Apple
• Motorola

Finance Services & Investments

• Citigroup

Hotels

• The Four Seasons
• Fairmont
• Raffles
• Swissôtel
• Mövenpick
• IFA Hotels and Resorts
• The Plaza, New York
• Savoy Hotel, London

Media & Publishing

• News corporation
• Saudi Research and Marketing Group
• Time Warner

Entertainment

• Disneyland Resort Paris

Retail

• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Jingdong
• Savola
• eBay

Real Estate

• London’s landmark Canary Wharf
• Jeddah Economic Company
• Kingdom Centre
• Kingdom City
• Medical Services Projects Company
• Kingdom Schools
• Ballast Nedam

Aviation

• NAS Saudi Arabia

Petrochemicals

• TASNEE, the second-largest industrial firm, producing chemicals and industrial services in Saudi.

Healthcare

• Medical Services Projects Company

Education

• Kingdom Schools

Agriculture

• KADCO Egypt

For more information about HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s philanthrophic causes and his life, visit Alwaleed Foundations

Photo credit: HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal website

Sources: Kingdom website, BBC News, Bloomberg Business, The National, Fortune, Forbes