Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
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Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden محمد بن عوض بن لادن | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1908 |
Died | 3 September 1967 (aged 59) |
Cause of death | Plane crash |
Citizenship | Saudi Arabia |
Known for | Founder of Saudi Binladin Group |
Spouse(s) | 22 wives |
Children | 52 including Osama bin Laden Salem bin Laden Bakr bin Laden Tarek bin Laden Yeslam bin Ladin |
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: محمد بن عوض بن لادن; 1908 – 3 September 1967) was a multi-millionaire Saudi businessman working primarily in the construction industry. He founded what is today the Saudi Binladin Group and became the wealthiest non-royal Saudi, establishing the wealth and prestige of the Bin Laden family. He was the son of Awad bin Laden and the father of Osama bin Laden.
Life[]
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born on the Hadhramaut coast of south Yemen in 1908 to Awad bin Aboud bin Laden, a Kindite Hadhrami tribesman from al-Rubat, a village in Wadi Doan; Mohammed's paternal grandfather was Aboud bin Laden, the son of Ali bin Laden, one of four brothers (the others being Ahmed, Mansour, and Zaid) from whom the four bin Laden clans trace their ancestry. His son Osama bin Laden was the notorious founder of al-Qaeda, the Sunni militant Islamist organization.
Poor and uneducated, Mohammed emigrated to Tihamah before World War I. According to Eric Margolis he initially worked as a porter in Jeddah, like many other impoverished Yemenite emigrants of that time.[1] However, Salon.com reports that his first job was as a bricklayer with Aramco.[2] In 1930, he started his own construction business and after coming to the attention of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, first monarch of Saudi Arabia, he eventually achieved such success that his family became known as "the wealthiest non-royal family in the kingdom."
Mohammed bin Laden's enormous financial success was ascribed to a shrewd business sense, fealty to Saudi Arabia's rulers, reliability and a willingness to offer the lowest bid on construction contracts. By undercutting local construction firms he won contracts to build palaces for the House of Saud.[2]
As the "royal builder," Mohammed bin Laden forged close relationships with the royal family, particularly Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia. In 1964, Prince Faisal deposed his half-brother, King Saud, and began rebuilding the kingdom after the wasteful excesses of the Saud era. King Faisal accepted Mohammed bin Laden's offer of financial assistance to support the national economy and as a reward, King Faisal issued a royal decree awarding all future construction projects to bin Laden's construction company. As a result, bin Laden's company eventually amassed assets in excess of US$5 billion. He made his initial fortune from exclusive rights to all mosque and other religious building construction in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries. Until 1967, Mohammed bin Laden held exclusive responsibility for restorations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Despite his royal associations and great wealth, Mohammed bin Laden lived a relatively simple and devout life compared to many wealthy Saudis, demanding that his children observe a strict religious and moral code. In his later years, the bin Laden corporate network diversified its activities beyond construction, largely in foreign investment and oil.
Religion[]
He was reportedly raised as a Wahhabi Muslim, noted for his religious devotion and boasted that he could fly by private helicopter to pray at Mecca, Medina and al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem) in the same day.[2]
Wives and children[]
He fathered a total of 52 children[3] by 11 wives.[4] He had three wives who mostly remained the same but the fourth wife was said to change frequently.[2]
His best known son is Osama bin Laden (Arabic: بن لادن أسامة), the founder of al-Qaeda. Osama bin Ladin's mother, Hamida al-Attas, (Arabic: حميدة العطاس) was born and raised in Syria before marrying Bin Laden and moving to Saudi Arabia. She was non-traditional, known more for wearing Chanel trouser suits rather than the typical veiled, conservative attire of Saudi women. She was neither Wahhabi nor Saudi, and her foreign origin diminished her status within the conservative Saudi family where she became known as "the slave wife". She was his last bride, for he died unexpectedly, in a plane crash, in 1967.[2][5] According to Carmen bin Ladin, Mohammed was planning to wed a 23rd wife the night he died, and was heading there when his plane crashed.[6]
Death[]
On September 3, 1967, Mohammed bin Laden was killed when his airplane, a Beechcraft G18S, crashed during landing in Osran, 'Asir Province, in southwest Saudi Arabia.[7]
Legacy[]
Following Mohammed bin Laden's death, his eldest sons, principally Salem bin Laden, renamed the organization, "Binladen Brothers for Contracting and Industry" and continued to expand their late father's company until it employed more than 40,000 people. Salem bin Laden was killed in the United States in 1988 when his ultralight aircraft collided with power lines.[8] Many members of the Bin Laden family have moved away from Saudi Arabia and settled in Europe and the US.[8]
In May 1990, the company was renamed the Saudi Binladin Group under the leadership of Bakr bin Laden.[9] The Saudi Binladin Group as it is now known, is involved in construction, engineering, manufacturing, and telecommunications. Construction projects include airports, housing complexes, tunnels, and bridges. The group is also involved in city planning and real estate development. The Saudi Binladin Group is Egypt's largest private foreign company and negotiated with the Lebanese government to rebuild part of central Beirut under a US $50 million contract.
In 2009, the Bin Laden family was listed as the 5th wealthiest Saudi family by Forbes magazine, with a reported net worth of $7 billion.[10]
Descendants[]
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden's sons:
- Salem bin Laden (1946–1988) married Caroline Carey
- Ali bin Laden
- Thabet bin Laden (d. 2009)
- Mahrous bin Laden
- Hassan bin Laden
- Bakr bin Laden
- Khalid bin Laden
- Yeslam bin Ladin (born 1950) married Carmen Dufour (born 1954)
- Wafah Dufour (born 1978)
- Najia Dufour (born 1979)
- Noor Dufour (born 1987)
- Ghalib bin Laden
- Yahya bin Laden
- Abdul Aziz bin Laden
- Issa bin Laden
- Tarek bin Laden
- Ahmed bin Laden
- Ibrahim bin Laden
- Shafiq bin Laden
- Osama bin Laden (1957–2011) married Najwa Ghanem (born 1960)
- Khalil bin Ladin
- Saleh bin Ladin
- Haider bin Laden
- Saad bin Laden
- Abdullah bin Laden
- Yasser bin Laden
- Mohammad bin Laden (born 1967)
References[]
- ^ Margolis, Eric S. (2002). War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136743825. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Burke, Jason (November 1, 2001). "The making of Osama bin Laden". salon.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ "Osama Bin Laden: PROFILE". CNN. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Atkins, Stephen (2004). Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. p. 49. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ Goldman, Jan (2014). The War on Terror Encyclopedia: From the Rise of Al-Qaeda to 9/11 and Beyond. p. 61. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ Bin Laden, Carmen (2005), Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia, Hachette Book Group, pp. 65–66, ISBN 0-446-61694-X
- ^ The Bin Ladens – Steve Coll (Penguin, 2008), pp. 118–120.
- ^ a b Burke, Jason. "Rags to riches story of the bin Laden family is woven with tragedy". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ^ "Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden". www.historycommons.org. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ^ "The Five Richest Saudis". WSJ Blogs - The Wealth Report. 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- 20th-century Saudi Arabian businesspeople
- 1909 births
- 1967 deaths
- Bin Laden family
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1967
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Saudi Arabia
- Yemeni emigrants to Saudi Arabia