The ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, which has an estimated net worth of $1.4 trillion (£1.1trillion), is believed to be worth four times more than the combined net worth of two of the biggest billionaires in the world – Elon Musk and Bill Gates.
While Forbes estimates Musk, the Tesla founder and X owner is currently worth $251.3 billion (£191billion), Gates, the founder of Microsoft turned philanthropist, is reportedly worth $119.6 billion (£93billion).
The Saudi Royal family includes descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, the founder of the Emirate of Diriyah in the 18th century – also known as the First Saudi state.
The family is composed of some 15,000 members – although the majority of wealth is held by around 2000 relatives.
The ruling faction of the family comes from the descendants of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, the modern founder of Saudi Arabia.
The current head of the family is King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who has been reigning since 2015.
His most famous son and heir apparent is Mohammed bin Salman. Also known as MBS, the Crown Prince is the current Prime Minister of his country and is seen by many as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
MBS and King Salman oversee an absolute monarchy and autocratic state where civil liberties and political rights are restricted.
The origin of this family’s wealth is believed to derive largely from the vast oil reserves uncovered in the country seven decades ago, during the reign of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud.
The Saudi royals keep details of their finances private, but their lavish lifestyle and big spending often attract the attention of the public.
Meanwhile, the net worth and finances of the British Royal Family are often under the scrutiny of the media and the public. Business consultancy firm Brand Finance valued the monarchy treasure now being led by King Charles III as having a net worth of $88billion (£69bn).
This means the rulers of Saudi Arabia have a net worth estimated to be nearly 16 times that of King Charles’s family.
