Estimated
in 2018 to be more than 11,000 direct descendants of King Abdulaziz,
the founder of the dynasty, the al-Saud family is probably the largest
ruling family in history. When the families of Abdulaziz’s brother and
the half-dozen half-brothers are added, the extended family might be
15,000, possibly more. When the families of Abdulaziz’s cousins, such as
Saud al-Kabir and Abdallah bin Turki are added, the number becomes
greater. When families into whom the al-Sauds married, such as
al-Jiluwi, al-Sudairi and al-Thunayyan are added, the grand total will
grow even further. To say that the grand total could reach 30,000 might
be an underestimation.
There
are five generations of descendants of the founder of the Saudi
dynasty, King Abdulaziz al-Saud (d. 1953). According to Leslie Mc
Laughlin, the patriarch fathered “43 sons and many daughters.”Upon the patriarch’s death, 35 sons were alive. These sons were born to seventeen wives and concubines (source: Various):
The Wives
Wadha
(King Saud) + Tarfah (King Faisal) + Jawhara (Muhammad, King Khalid) +
Hassa al-Sudairi (King Fahed, Sultan, Abdulrahman, Nayif, Turki, King Salman,
Ahmad) + Haya al-Sudairi (Badr, Abdulmajeed) + Jawhara al-Sudairi
(Sa’ad, Abdelmuhsen, Musa’ed) + Noff (Thamer, Mamdouh, Mashhour) + Fahda
(King Abdallah) + Bazza-I (Nasser).
The Concubines
Bazza-II (Bandar, Fawwaz) + Shahida (Mansour, Mish’al, Mit’ab) + Manayer (Talal, Nawwaf) + Moudi (Sattam, Majid) + Bushra (Mishari) + Baraka (Miqrin) + Fatima (Hmoud) + Sai’ida (Hathloul).
Only
the descendants of the male children who were alive at the time of the
patriarch’s death will be counted. The descendants of the daughters will
not be counted. The al-Saud women marry their cousins and extended
family.
At
the time of this writing, 9 sons of Abdulaziz’s first generation are
alive, including the current king, Salman. The 35 first generation sons
may have produced 525 second-generation children [35 sons at an assumed
average of 15 children each (35 x 15 = 525)]. King Saud alone, for
example, the eldest son of King Abdulaziz, had 53 sons and 54 daughters
The
263 second-generation sons (525 / 2) are assumed to have produced 8
children each, or 2,104 of third generation children (263 x 8 = 2,104).
The younger generation is less likely to marry more than one or two
wives at any one time, compared with up to four wives at any one time
for many of the older generation. The three generations would total
2,638 princes and princesses (9 + 525 + 2,104 = 2,638).
Of
the third generation, it is assumed that each of the 1,052 sons (2,104 /
2 = 1,052) has 6 children each, for a total fourth generation of 6,312
children (1,052 x 6 = 6,312). The four generations would total 8,950 (9 +
525 + 2,104 + 6,312 = 8,950).
Assuming
that a third of the fourth generation male children are married and
each has 2 children, the number of the fifth generation children would
be 2,104 (6,312 / 2 = 3,156 / 3 = 1,052 x 2 = 2,104).
The
grand total of the five generations of direct descendants of Abdulaziz
al-Saud becomes 11,054 (9 + 525 + 2,104 + 6,312 + 2,104 = 11,054).
An Estimate of the Financial Burden of the Al-Saud Clan on the Saudi Treasury
A
sliding scale of monthly salaries is paid to al-Saud family members,
according to their position in the genealogical hierarchy and proximity
to the founding patriarch. A special department at the Ministry of
Finance by the non-descript name of al-Idarat al-Aammah Li-lmuqarrarat
Wal-Kawaed (General Administration for Allowances and Guidelines)
administers these payments.
The
burden of the ruling family on the national treasury is secret. It may
be estimated, however, that the annual cost of the immediate family of
King Abdulaziz is in the region of $11 billion, at the assumed low
average of $1 million per descendant. This estimate does not include
lump-sum special handouts of cash or grants of public lands or crude oil
allocation to certain members of the family. In addition to cash, the
King allocates crude oil for a certain period of time to certain
princes. The recipient sells the bounty through an agent. These
allocations are not reported in official Saudi oil export statistics.
They raise OPEC’s export quota for Saudi Arabia clandestinely.
Members
of the al-Saud family have become extraordinarily wealthy. Some royals
engage in trading and construction businesses. They earn phenomenal
commissions/bribes on government contracts. They break the law with
impunity.
Legendary extravaganceon palaces in Saudi Arabia and in European and American cities, on grand
private jets, super-yachts, fleets of the most expensive luxury and
sports cars, and on obscenely expensive jewellery are a typical way of
life for most of the al-Sauds. It is common for a vacationing prince to
carry a million dollars in banknotes and travellers checks for
incidentals.
Out
of the country’s oil revenues between 1981 and 2016 of $3.22 trillion
between 1981 and 2008 (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency annual reports),
the surviving sons of King Abdulaziz, their children, and the
descendants of his deceased children might have cost the Saudi Treasury
$350 billion in the form of commissions/bribes on weapon purchases and
infrastructure projects. When the monthly stipends, special cash
handouts, and land and oil grants are added, the total could reach $700
billion.
