Prince's arrest casts pall over big companies

Hong Kong

WITH the arrest of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the prominent billionaire investor, Saudi Arabia has touched one of the richest and most influential investors in the world.

Among Prince Alwaleed's crown jewels: sizeable stakes in Twitter, Lyft, Citigroup and 21st Century Fox. He has gone into business with some of the corporate world's biggest titans, from Bill Gates to Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg.

His investments span the globe, including the historic George V hotel in Paris, the Savoy in London and the Plaza in New York.

He has also invested in the AccorHotels chain and Canary Wharf, the London business development.

So vast are his investments that he has been referred to as the "Warren Buffett of the Middle East". He speaks regularly about the financial world, such as his recent comments …