Muhammad bin Ladin facts for kids

Muhammad bin Ladin (Arabic: مُحَمَّد بْنُ لَادِن, romanized: Muḥammad bin Lādin; around 1908 – 3 September 1967) was a very successful businessman from Saudi Arabia. He was born in Yemen. He became a billionaire by working mostly in the construction industry. He started a company called the Saudi Binladin Group. This company made his family very rich and famous. They became one of the wealthiest families in Saudi Arabia, besides the royal family.

Muhammad bin Ladin's Early Life

Muhammad bin Ladin was born near the coast of Hadhramaut in southern Yemen. His family was from a tribe called Kindite Hadrami. He was born around 1908, but the exact date is not known. This is because there was no official birth registry at that time.

His family was poor and he did not get much schooling. They moved to a place called Tihamah before World War I. When he was young, he worked as a porter in Jeddah. Some reports say he started as a bricklayer.

Building a Business Empire

In 1931, Muhammad bin Ladin started his own construction company. He soon caught the attention of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. Abdul Aziz was the first king of Saudi Arabia. Muhammad bin Ladin became very successful. His family became known as "the wealthiest non-royal family in the kingdom."

He was smart about his business. He built strong connections with the Saudi royal family. He even built a special ramp at the palace in Jeddah. This helped the aging king move easily between floors in his car.

Muhammad's success came from his good business sense. He was also very loyal to Saudi Arabia's rulers. He was reliable and often offered the lowest price for construction jobs. By the 1940s, he was a multi-millionaire. He had many workers on projects all over Saudi Arabia.

In 1948, he got a big job. He was asked to build a palace for the future King Saud. In the early 1950s, a British company stopped building a key road. This road went from Jeddah to Medina. Muhammad stepped in and finished the job. This made him a very important person in Saudi Arabia's construction world.

The Royal Builder

Muhammad bin Ladin was known as the "royal builder." He had a close friendship with the royal family. He was especially close to Prince Faisal. In 1964, Prince Faisal became King. He wanted to rebuild the kingdom. King Faisal accepted Muhammad bin Ladin's offer to help with money. As a thank you, King Faisal made a special rule. This rule gave all future construction projects to Muhammad bin Ladin's company. Because of this, his company grew to be worth over US$5 billion.

He first made a lot of money from building mosques. He also built other religious buildings in Saudi Arabia. He worked on projects in other Arab countries too. Until 1967, he was in charge of fixing up the Jami Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.

Even with all his wealth, Muhammad bin Ladin lived a simple life. He was very religious. He made sure his children followed strict religious and moral rules. Later in his life, his company also started investing in other areas. This included foreign investments and oil.

His Faith

Muhammad bin Ladin was raised as a Wahhabi Muslim. He was known for being very religious. He even said he could fly by private helicopter to pray at Mecca, Medina, and al-Aqsa in Jerusalem all in the same day.

Family Life

Muhammad bin Ladin had 52 children with 11 wives. He usually had three main wives. His fourth wife would change often.

One of his well-known sons was Osama bin Ladin. However, Muhammad and Osama did not see each other often. They only met one time by themselves. Osama's mother was Hamida al-Attas. She was from Syria. She moved to Saudi Arabia after marrying Muhammad bin Ladin. She was known for wearing modern clothes. This was different from the traditional clothes of Saudi women. She was not from Saudi Arabia. This made her status lower in the family. She was his last wife. Muhammad died unexpectedly in a plane crash in 1967.

His Passing

On 3 September 1967, Muhammad bin Ladin died. His airplane, a G18S, crashed while landing. This happened in Usran, in southwest Saudi Arabia. After the crash, his body was found and prepared for burial.

The next day, his body was taken from the palace. It was buried in a family cemetery nearby. Many people were sad when they heard the news. Muhammad was well-liked by his family and the people of Jeddah. About ten thousand people came to his funeral. King Faisal was very sad. He was a close friend of Muhammad. After the funeral, King Faisal met with the bin Ladin family. He told the children that he would protect them. He also promised they would get their share of his money when they turned 21.

After Muhammad's death, his many wives and children moved to different parts of the kingdom. But they still stayed connected to the Saudi Binladin Group. Muhammad's oldest son, Salem bin Ladin, took over the family business. He made it grow into an international company.

What He Left Behind

After Muhammad bin Ladin died, his oldest sons took over. Salem bin Laden was the main leader. They changed the company's name to "Binladen Brothers for Contracting and Industry." They kept growing their father's company. It eventually had more than 40,000 workers. Salem bin Laden died in the United States in 1988. This happened when his small plane hit power lines. Many members of the bin Ladin family have since moved away from Saudi Arabia. They now live in Europe and the US.

In May 1990, the company was renamed the Saudi Binladin Group. Bakr bin Laden became its leader. Today, the Saudi Binladin Group works in many areas. These include construction, engineering, and telecommunications. They build airports, homes, tunnels, and bridges. The group also helps plan cities and develops real estate. It is the biggest foreign company in Egypt. It also helped rebuild parts of Beirut, Lebanon.

In 2009, Forbes magazine listed the bin Ladin family. They were the 5th wealthiest Saudi family. Their wealth was reported to be $7 billion.

Muhammad bin Ladin was shown in a TV show. He was played by Tim Seyfi in the 2019 miniseries The Spy.

Descendants

Muhammad bin Ladin's sons:

• Salem bin Ladin (1946–1988) married Caroline Carey
• Ali bin Ladin
• Thabet bin Ladin (d. 2009)
• Mahrous bin Ladin
• Hassan bin Ladin
• Bakr bin Laden
• Khalid bin Ladin
• Yeslam bin Ladin (born 1950) married Carmen Dufour (born 1954)
  • Wafah Dufour (born 1978)
  • Najia Dufour (born 1979)
  • Noor Dufour (born 1987)
• Ghalib bin Ladin
• Yahya bin Ladin
• Abd al-Aziz bin Ladin
• Isa bin Ladin
• Tarek bin Ladin
• Ahmed bin Ladin
• Ibrahim bin Ladin
• Shafiq bin Ladin
• Osama bin Ladin (1957–2011) married Najwa Ghanem (born 1960)
• Khalil bin Ladin
• Saleh bin Ladin
• Haydar bin Ladin
• Saad bin Ladin
• Abdullah bin Ladin
• Yasser bin Ladin
• Muhammad bin Ladin (born 1967)