I'm worth at least £20BILLION! Saudi prince blasts Forbes after they said he's 'only worth £13billion' in rich list

• Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was number 26 on the magazine's list
• Forbes magazine says he is worth an estimated $20billion
• But the prince says that he is actually worth more like $29.6billion
• He has now severed all ties with the magazines annual list

Angry: Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal has claimed that the Forbes rich list has underestimated his vast wealth

A Saudi prince has claimed that a list charting the world's richest richest people has understated his massive wealth.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has severed ties with Forbes magazine after its annual list estimated his net worth at $20billion (£13billion).
The figure saw the investor ranked at number 26 on the rich list joint with American Carl Icahn and Canadian media mogul David Thomson.
But the prince's office has claimed that his net worth is more like $29.6billion (£19.5billion), a figure that would have put him in Forbes' top ten just behind L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
He accused the magazine of a 'flawed' valuation method that 'seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions'.
Although he has said he will no longer provide Forbes with details of his finances, he said that he will still work with rival list the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which was set up as a rival to the magazine's list in 2012.
The Bloomberg list estimates the net worth of the prince, who owns the investment firm Kingdom Holding Company, at $28billion which puts him at number 16.
Alwaleed is reported to have written to Forbes editor-in-chief Steve Forbes and is said to have instructed his lawyers over the matter.
The prince is said to have asked to be removed from the list.

 

He alleges that Forbes refused to accept valuations of his company's stocks on Tadawul, the Saudi Arabian stock market, but says that the index takes into account valuations on other emerging markets.
His office also alleged that there were inconsistencies in Forbes's reporting including allegations that stock manipulation is 'the national sport' in Saudi Arabia.

Glamourous lifestyle: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and his wife, Princess Amira, pictured at the reopening of the Savoy in London, which his company owns a stake in, in 2010

Splashing out: The prince, centre, is pictured buying the first Airbus A380 double decker luxury jet in November 2007

Jet-setter: A Hawker jet, left, and a Boeing 747 belonging to the Saudi prince

The magazine this afternoon published an article on its website from next months edition claiming that the prince overestimates his wealth.
This year's Forbes list saw Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim named the world's richest man for a fourth year in a row, with an estimated wealth of $73billion (£48billion).
Microsoft's Bill Gates held on to his spot at second place while Amancio Ortega, owner of clothing brand Zara leapfrogged Warren Buffett into third place.
The top Briton on the list was the Duke of Westminster with a fortune of $11.4billion (£7.6billion).

Super-rich: Alwaleed bin Talal's amazing superyacht is pictured moored in Saudi Arabia

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal describes himself as the 'world's foremost value investor', according to Forbes.
The 57-year-old's company has a stake in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Raffles Holding, the Hotel George V in Paris and the Savoy Hotel in London.
He is reported to have bought a three per cent stake in Twitter in 2012.

Big business: The Prince's company owns a stake in the Savoy hotel in London

He was also the first individual to buy an Airbus A380 double decker plane in 2007 and it was due to be delivered this spring.
But the Airbus has now been sold according to his office.
The prince first came to the attention of Forbes when he contacted them following the publication of their first rich list in 1988.
He wanted to inform them of his wealth and ensure that he was included in the next list.
He is reported to own a 420 room mansion in Riyadh with various swimming pools and portraits of himself.
Alwaleed owns his own 747 and a 120 acre 'farm and resort' close to Riyadh.
His maternal grandfather was the first Prime Minister of Lebanon and his paternal grandfatehr created Saudi Arabia.
His father Prince Talal is said to have had a head for business and Saudi Arabian finance minister in the 1960s.
Alwaleed is said to have started his business empire with a $30,000 gift from his father and a $300,000 loan.
But by 2005 he was worth $10billion and had earned the nickname 'Buffett of Arabia' after Warren Buffett.

Wealthy: Mexican Carlos Slim, left, held onto the top spot in Forbes's list for the fourth year running, while Microsoft's Bill Gates, right, was second on the list

THE RICHEST OF THE RICH: FORBES TOP TWENTY WEALTHIEST

1. Carlos Slim, 73, $73BN                                            12. Stefan Persson, 65, $28BN  
2. Bill Gates, 57, $67BN                                               13. Michael Bloomberg, 71, $27BN         
3. Amancio Ortega, 76, $57BN                                     14. Jim Walton, 65, $26.7BN         
4. Warren Buffett, 82, $53.5BN                                     15. Sheldon Adelson, 79, $26.5BN
5. Larry Ellison, 68, $43BN                                           16. Alice Walton, 63, $26.3BN    
6. Charles Koch, 77, $34BN                                         17. S. Robson Walton, 69, $26.1BN
7. David Koch, 72, $34BN                                            18. Karl Albrecht, 93, $26BN
8. Li Ka-shing, 84, $31BN                                            19. Jeff Bezos, 49, $25.2BN
9. Liliane Bettengourt, 90, $30BN                                20. Larry Page, 39, $23BN
10. Bernard Arnault, 63, $29BN                                 
11. Christy Walton, 58, $28.2BN                                  26. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 58, $20BN