King of Saudi Arab Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal bin Turki

Born: 1 August 1924, Riyadh, Najd (KSA)
Bayah: 2 August, 2005
Died: 23 January 2015, Riyadh, Najd (KSA)
Profiles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_of_Saudi_Arabia; forbes.com/profile/abdullah-bin-abdul-aziz-al-saud/
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود‎‎, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was the King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques from 2005 to his death in 2015. He ascended to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died at age 90 in January 2015. His successor is his 79-year-old half-brother, Crown Prince Salman. In addition to previously being one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs, he was custodian of Islam's two holiest cities and presided over the largest oil producer in the Middle East.

Philanthropy

• While still Crown Prince, Abdullah paid for the separation surgery of a pair of Polish conjoined twins, which took place at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh on 3 January 2005. He was given "honorary citizenship" by the Polish town of Janikowo, where the twins were born. On 18 March 2005, he was awarded the Order of the Smile, which he received during his visit to Poland in 2007.
• He established two libraries: the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh; and another in Casablanca, Morocco.
• He donated over $300,000 to furnish a New Orleans high school rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.
• He donated $500 million to the United Nations World Food Programme in 2008.
• He donated $50 million in cash and $10 million worth of relief materials for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China.
• He donated $10 billion to the endowment fund of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in May 2008.

Influence

King Abdullah was, in 2012, named as the most influential Muslim among 500 Muslims for the previous 4 years. In December 2012, Forbes named him as the seventh most powerful figure in its list of the "World's Most Powerful People" for 2012, being the sole Arab in the top ten.

Honours and awards

King Abdullah received a number of international high orders. Most notably, he was an honoured knight of the strictly Roman Catholic Order of the Golden Fleece (the Spanish branch), which caused some controversy.
In April 2012, he was awarded by the United Nations a gold medal for his contributions to intercultural understanding and peace initiatives.

Wealth

In 2011, the financial magazine Forbes estimated his and his immediate family's documentable wealth at US$21 billion, making him one of the world's richest monarchs.
Abdullah was an expert equestrian in his youth. His stables were considered the largest in the Kingdom, with over 1,000 horses spread throughout five divisions led by his son Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah. The King owned Janadria Farm, a large complex located in the suburbs of Riyadh.
For holidays the King maintained a large palace complex with several residential compounds in Casablanca, Morocco. It is equipped with two heliports and is surrounded by large mansions on 133 acres of vegetation.