AS with his investments, so too with his daily routine. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is driven, disciplined, precise. Whether at home in Riyadh, or on the road, he lives his life like someone who has little time to waste. Apart from time spent with his family, which is precious, he allows himself little, if any, leisure.
His average day goes like this, he says:
'I wake up every day at 10 am. I read for one hour, watch the news. Then, I go to the office for five hours. After that, I have a break for three hours, which is the time I spend with my family - my family is very sacred to me.
'I go back to the office in the evening, for another four to five hours. Then, I return home around 1am and I immediately go for my exercise - walking, swimming or jogging - for one hour. After I have my shower, I read some more, watch the news again, and write all my reports - political reports, economic reports. And I read my papers, and decide what I will do the next day. All that is for two hours.
'Dinner? Usually, I have only a salad in the evening, but I have a big lunch. I sleep after my fajr prayers (the first of the five daily prayers recited by Muslims). I sleep from 5am to 10 am. So basically, I work around 13-14 hours a day.'
When the prince travels, every hour is accounted for. He asks one of his aides to show me the schedule of his current trip, which is circulated to every member of his entourage. 'As you can see, our travelling schedule is very tight, very disciplined,' he points out. 'We do one month's work in one week. For example, on this trip, we are covering the Maldives, Bali, Jakarta, Singapore, Langkawi, Phuket, Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and Beijing. Eleven places. My trip to these places is a blend of business, politics and finance. And some leisure.'
Source: Business Times, 12 May 2007, Raffles Conversation
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