The royal family’s fortune derives from the reserves of petroleum discovered during the reign of Salman’s father, King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, more than 75 years ago. The sale of oil provides billions of dollars in annual allowances, public-sector sinecures and perks for royals, the wealthiest of whom own French chateaus and Saudi palaces, stash money in Swiss bank accounts, wear couture dresses under their abayas and frolic on some of the world’s biggest yachts out of sight of commoners...
Joseph A. Kechichian, who has studied the family for three decades and wrote a book, “
Succession in Saudi Arabia.” He estimates that there are now 12,000 to 15,000 princes and about as many princesses. Princess Basmah bint Saud, a daughter of King Saud, five years ago
put the number of royals at 15,000.
But the Saudi ministry spokesman, Mr. Qusayer, said there were no more than 5,000 members of the House of Saud. The difference may stem in part from whether or how one counts distant relatives and families who ruled back before the time of King Abdulaziz, the current king’s father.
The stipends then ranged from up to $270,000 a month for a son of the founding king to $8,000 a month for his great-great-grandchildren, the official reported. Bonuses of $1 million to $3 million were given to some royals as wedding gifts for palace construction. The official estimated in a memorandum, released with other documents by WikiLeaks five years ago, that the allowances, which included payments to other prominent families around the kingdom, accounted for roughly $2 billion of the government’s total $40 billion budget, or
5 percent of all public spending.