How long has Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal been a Citigroup shareholder?

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How long has Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal been a Citigroup shareholder?

Answer: more than 18 years


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Prince Alwaleed: 'Full Confidence' in Citi CEO Pandit

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he has "full confidence" in Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and believes the bank's financial problems will resolve themselves with time.

"I believe personally as a shareholder in this company more than 18 years ago that Vikram should be given more time. He has just taken over this one year and the legacy that he had is tremendous. So he has my full confidence," the prince, the bank's largest individual investor, said Monday on CNBC. (See his full interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo in the accompanying video).

Last Thursday Alwaleed said he planned to increase his stake in Citigroup to 5 percent from less than 4 percent. The prince called Citigroup's shares at that time "dramatically undervalued."

But afterward, Citigroup shares continued to fall, prompting a weekend scramble to come up with a government bailout plan. On Monday, the shares skyrocketed more than 50 percent.

"Today's action was very dramatic in very dramatic times," Alwaleed said of the bailout.

Following that action Citi is now "well-capitalized," the Prince said. Citi's putting assets into a special investment vehicle should not be taken as a sign of worry, he said. Pandit believes many of these assets will improve, he said.

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URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/27892719/