Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal held a series of meetings with CEO’s of US-based IT companies. Separate meetings were held with Chairman and CEO of Apple Computers, Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy and Chairman of Priceline.com, Rick Braddock.
Jobs briefed Prince Al-Waleed on Apple’s strategic plans adding that the company is doing well. Apple believes music will remain the key consumer interest, Jobs added. He told Al-Waleed that the partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) on the iPod proved to be an excellent venture.
The Prince is an investor in HP and through entities held for his benefit and the benefit of his family, Prince Al-Waleed has a substantial stake in Apple Computers.
At a separate meeting with McNealy, the Prince received a first-hand account of how Sun Microsystems was performing. Al-Waleed listened as McNealy walked him through past Sun experiences and into restructuring plans. McNealy also told the Prince about the newly signed deal with China for Star Office.
A third meeting took place with Priceline.com’s chairman, Braddock. Previously, and through trust funds, the Prince made a $100 million investment in the company. Braddock and the Prince discussed the future of Priceline.com, which the Prince was pleased to hear Braddock describe as “solid.” — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
