Kingdom Holding Company
The Kingdom Holding Company () is a Saudi conglomerate holding company based in Riyadh. The Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) is a publicly listed company on the Tadawul (Saudi Stock Exchange). The KHC consists of a select team of experienced investment specialists directed by its founder and chairman, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and Chief Executive Officer, Eng. Talal Ibrahim Al Maiman. The company describes itself as a diversified investment company, whose main interests are financial services, real estate, tourism and hospitality, media, entertainment, petrochemicals, aviation and technology. Present investments. Present investments include: Past investments. Past investments include: The  company is known for hiring the first Saudi female commercial pilot, Captain Hanadi Zakaria al-Hindi, who trained at the Mideast Aviation Academy in Jordan. It is the owner of and was the lead developer of the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Kingdom Holding is an active investor in sub-saharan Africa through Kingdom Africa Management, a private equity firm and subsidiary based in South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. Kingdom Africa is run by J. Kofi Bucknor and focuses on growth equity investments. In 2007, the company committed to purchasing an Airbus A380 "Flying Palace" for $485 million , however according to the Kingdom Holding's chief financial officer the plane has been sold. In April 2010, the company sold part of its stake in Raffles Holdings International in a deal worth about $847 million to a group of investors, including an affiliate of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. In August 2011, the company announced plans for the construction of Jeddah Tower, which will become the tallest building in the world.