| Type | Private conglomerate and holding company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Construction |
| Founded | 1931 |
| Founder(s) | Sheikh Mohammed bin Laden |
| Headquarters | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Key people | Bakr bin Laden, Chairman |
| Website | www.sbg.com.sa |
The Saudi Binladin (or Binladen) Group (SBG) (Arabic: مجموعة بن لادن السعودية Maǧmūʿat Bin Lādin al-Saʿūdiyyah) is a multinational construction conglomerate and holding company for the assets owned by the bin Laden family, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Considered the largest construction firm in the world Saudi Binladin Group recently signed a US$1.23 billion contract to construct the tallest building in the world, Kingdom Tower in Jeddah.
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The SBG was founded in 1931 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Laden Sayyid, whose relationship with the country's founder, Abdel Aziz al Saud, led to important government contracts such as refurbishing the mosques at Mecca and Medina. Mohammed, who overall had 22 wives and 53 children, is also the father of Osama Bin Laden.[1][2]
After the death of Sheikh Mohammed in 1968, the group was headed by Mohammed Bahareth, brother of Mohammed's first wife and uncle of his oldest children. In 1972, Sheikh Salem bin Laden, the eldest son, took over as his father's successor, with the assistance of several brothers. Upon Salem's death in a plane crash in 1988, the leadership of the group passed to one of his elder sons, Bakr, the current chairman, along with thirteen other brothers who make up the board of the bin Laden group, the most important of these being Hassan, Yeslam and Yehia. By 2002, the company had 35,000 employees worldwide, and was worth US$5 billion. [1]
The bin Laden group is represented in most Saudi cities — Riyadh, Dammam — and in a number of capital cities in the region (Beirut, Cairo, Amman, Dubai). According to a synopsis by the PBS news program Frontline:[3]
On December 20, 2005, the government of Saudi Arabia awarded a consortium of Saudi and Emirati companies, including the Saudi Binladin Group, a $26.6 billion contract to build King Abdullah Economic City.[4]
The Group is constructing Abraj Al Bait Towers in Mecca[5] and has been contracted by Kingdom Holding Company to build the Kingdom Tower.[6]
Royal Terminal, Jeddah
Only special purpose structure of its kind in the world dedicated exclusively to serve millions of pilgirms once a year as part of Haj.
The registration for SBG's Internet domain name, saudi-binladin-group.com, was registered on September 11, 2000, for one year, expiring on the same day as the September 11, 2001 attacks. The domain was later acquired by a domain speculator.[7] SBG currently uses sbg.com.sa, which was registered on 2000-01-11.[8]