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Bin Laden family

Bin Laden
Bin Laden
Current region Arabian Peninsula
Place of origin Yemen
Members Osama bin Laden
see Family members

The bin Laden family (Arabic: بن لادن‎‎, bin Lādin), also spelled bin Ladin, is a wealthy family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. The family was thrown into the media spotlight through the activities of one of its members, Osama bin Laden, the former head of Al Qaeda. The financial interests of the bin Laden family are represented by the Saudi Binladin Group, a global oil and equity management conglomerate grossing US$2 billion annually, and the largest construction firm in the world, with offices in London, Dubai, and Geneva.

The family traces its origins to Awad bin Laden from the village of Al Rubat, in the Wadi Doan in the Tarim Valley, Hadramout governorate, Yemen. His son was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (died 1967). Mohammed bin Laden was a native of the Shafi`i (Sunni) Hadhramaut coast in southern Yemen and emigrated to Saudi Arabia prior to World War I. He set up a construction company and came to Abdul Aziz ibn Saud's attention through construction projects, later being awarded contracts for major renovations in Mecca, where he made his initial fortune from exclusive rights to all mosque and other religious building construction not only in Saudi Arabia, but as far as Ibn Saud's influence reached. Until his death, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden had exclusive control over restorations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Soon the bin Laden corporate network extended far beyond construction sites.


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