When Citibank foundered in 1991, the Saudi Prince Walid Bin Talal invested $600 million at the bargain price of $10 per share. Since then, his stake has grown to 4 percent of the company and, after having seen a record share price of $55 per share in 2006, his shares now sit at $1.50 after the government’s partial takeover of the bank. Talal must now decide whether to give up his preferred investor status and join the United States government as a common equity holder—a move he has indicated he will do. The prince’s net worth is estimated to be $21 billion.
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