Categories: OLD Media Moves

Saudi prince has spent $2.2 million fighting Forbes

One of the world’s richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, has spent $2.2 million in legal fees so far fighting a libel battle with the business magazine Forbes, reports Jane Croft of The Financial Times.

Croft writes, “Andrew Caldecott QC, representing Forbes, alleged to the court that part of his client’s case was that the prince ‘was desperate to be in the top 20’ billionaires on the Forbes list.

“He also claimed the four Forbes articles complained of had used a succession of ‘qualifying words’ and told the court that the legal costs for his opponents had reached £1.4m already.

“The case came before the High Court on Tuesday in a hearing to determine the meaning of allegedly defamatory statements. This is a preliminary legal step ahead of a libel trial that could begin as early as next year.

“Mr Justice Tugendhat reserved his judgment on the issues until a later date.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.