In Brief... World News Review Saudi Prince Invests Billions in Financial Markets
It's a no-brainer to predict that the Internet will change the lives of every citizen of planet earth! How the Internet will affect everyone is not so easy to predict.
It's a no-brainer to predict that the Internet will change the lives of every citizen of planet earth! How the Internet will affect everyone is not so easy to predict. Because the Internet is an American invention and Wall Street is perceived to be the economic engine that currently powers the world's economies, perhaps it's too easy to assume that both are under U.S. control.
Recent reports from Reuters and AP challenge that assumption. A billionaire nephew of Saudi King Fahd, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal used some of his "discretionary funds" to make some investments in the depressed U.S. market on May 16. The prince has a little more than the average individual has to invest-his new investments are worth $1 billion! They're spread over 15 U.S. companies, including six Internet firms.
His largest purchases were $200 million of WorldCom, Inc. stock and $150 million of AT&T Corp. stock, but he also picked up $50 million each of Priceline.com, InfoSpace, Inc., Doubleclick, Inc., Amazon.com, Internet Capital Group, Inc., and eBay.com.
This recent $1 billion investment is in addition to another $1 billion that Prince Alwaleed has made over the past six months in technology, media and telecommunications companies. In addition to these recent investments, the prince owns approximately $8.5 billion in Citibank stock.
In a prophecy focused across the ages, God forecast that the ancient nation of Israel could expect its wealth to be taken over and controlled by individuals from other nations. "The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower" (Deuteronomy 28:43). This obviously undesirable turn of financial fortunes would come as a consequence of failing to respect and live by the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 28:15).
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John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
