Prince Alwaleed says court claim is not about his ranking on business magazine's Rich List, but about 'defamatory' article (read up the initial story here-http://umezeigwe.blogspot.com/2013/06/saudi-prince-sues-forbes-after-it-says.html
Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed has insisted his high court libel action against the business magazine Forbes is "not about ranking on some list or personal wealth".
Alwaleed, who is one of the world's wealthiest businessmen, is suing Forbes in London over an article published alongside its coveted Rich List, which he claims underestimated his fortune by $9.6bn (£6.1bn).
The
billionaire said he is seeking damages from the magazine over
"seriously defamatory comments" about him and his investment vehicle,
Kingdom Holdings Company, which owns stakes in Rupert Murdoch's News
Corporation and London's Savoy hotel.
In the first official statement since the Guardian revealed his libel claim last week,
Alwaleed's office said: "The basis for actively pursuing a legal action
against Forbes would not be about ranking on some list or personal
wealth, it is about correcting seriously defamatory comments that have
been made about HRH Prince Alwaleed as an individual and Kingdom Holding
Company."
The prince accused Forbes of publishing a
"deliberately insulting and inaccurate" description of the Saudi Arabian
business community and said it had "denigrated" the country's stock
exchange, the Tadawul.
In its article in March, Forbes
quoted a former Alwaleed executive who described the Tadawul as a
gambling site. The magazine said it calculated his fortune at $20bn,
placing him No 26 on its Rich List, after valuing the underlying
investments of Kingdom Holding Company instead of its shares traded on
the Tadawul.
However, Alwaleed said this amounted to Forbes
accusing him of market manipulation. In a tersely-worded statement, the
royal said his legal action was a "necessary and appropriate response"
to Forbes's "irrational and deeply flawed valuation methodology, which
is ultimately subjective and discriminatory".
The libel
writ has been filed at London's high court by the law firm Kobre &
Kim, which describes itself on its website as "Aggressive. Global.
Conflict-free."
In a statement, Forbes said it continues to
be "bemused by Prince Alwaleed's ego-driven PR stunt". It added:
"Forbes still has not been served with any lawsuit. Our story raises
significant questions about his finances, and we would welcome the
opportunity to uncover further relevant information during the course of
any hypothetical suit."
source: The Guardian Uk
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