No ownership changes to Amoudi businesses after Saudi detention: spokesman

By Stephen Kalin

RIYADH (Reuters) – There are no ownership changes to any businesses belonging to Saudi-Ethiopian tycoon Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi following his release from more than 14 months in Saudi detention in an anti-corruption campaign, a family office spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday.

The spokesman said Amoudi was in good health and had met with senior management and other business associates, adding: “It continues to be ‘business as usual’ for those businesses.”

Amoudi, whom Forbes once called the richest man in Ethiopia and the second-richest Saudi, was among scores of members of the Saudi business and political elite rounded up Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel in November 2017 on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Some detainees – like global investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal – were released after agreeing secret settlement deals with the Saudi authorities, which say they expect to seize more than $100 billion this way.

Amoudi, in his 70s, became a multi-billionaire investing first in construction, agriculture and mining in Ethiopia, where he was born, and then purchasing oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden. Forbes valued his fortune at more than $10 billion in 2016.

New photographs shared by his family office showed Amoudi wearing a blue thobe (robe) and standing with business associates in front of photographs of King Salman, Prince Mohammed and the kingdom’s founder.

His release followed that of several other businessmen last week and comes amid a global backlash over last year’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents and the reported torture of detained women activists.

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