RIYADH: Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi, the founder of Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank, and an illustrious businessman, passed away following a heart attack Saturday afternoon at Al-Habeeb Hospital in Riyadh at the age of 99. Prayers will be offered for him at Al-Rajhi Mosque at Riyadh's Exit 15 on the east ring road after Asr prayers today (Sunday). According to Al-Rajhi website, Al-Rajhi was born in 1912 in Al-Bakeeriya, Qassim Province, and later moved with his father to Riyadh where he studied under Sheikh Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Aal Al-Sheikh, the Kingdom's Grand Mufti at the time. Al-Rajhi was the patron of the largest endowment in the Kingdom, and dedicated many of his properties to charity whose revenues were put into 12 banks through endowment bonds. He also founded the Saleh Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Endowments Administration. Members of the Kingdom's business community described his death as a “great loss”. “He was a great self-made businessman who began with just a small business that he gradually formed into larger businesses until they became a commercial empire,” said Vice Chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mazen Batterjee. “He created a boom in the economic world and in charity work, and the Al-Rajhi Group constituted a significant tributary to the national economy.” Bandar Al-Humaidhi, a prominent Riyadh businessman, said Al- Rajhi was known for his generosity and loyalty, and described his group as a “great economic edifice in the Kingdom”. “He worked according to organizational principles based on firm foundations,” he added. Businessman Ibrahim Al-Subai'i said Al-Rajhi was a great influence on the diversification of investment, and that the Al-Rajhi Group “embodied the depth of his economic thought”. “He strove to develop his trade activities from a small firm into a large group composed of numerous companies and involved in a variety of projects,” Al-Subai'i noted. “They all had the same goal, which was to maintain growth, stability and performance simultaneously,” he added. He also highlighted Al-Rajhi's sense of responsibility toward society and charity work, as well as his humility. “He didn't enjoy the limelight, he was only ever concerned with extending help to others,” he further said. Beginning in the 1930s with younger brother, Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi, Saleh Al-Rajhi, set up a foreign exchange agency. In later years, they were joined by brothers, Abdullah and Mohammed and diversified their investment in real estate, trading, construction, manufacturing etc. although banking and finance remains their primary source of family wealth, the website said.
