It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of the Saudi Binladin Group , a multinational construction firm. Following the September 11 attacks , the family became the subject of media attention and scrutiny due to the activities of Osama bin Laden , the former head of al-Qaeda , even though they publicly disowned him in He set up a construction company and came to Abdul Aziz ibn Saud's attention through construction projects , later being awarded contracts for major renovations in Mecca.
He made his initial fortune from exclusive rights to construct all mosques and other religious buildings not only in Saudi Arabia, but as far as Ibn Saud's influence reached. Soon, the bin Laden corporate network extended far beyond just construction sites. Mohammed's special intimacy with the monarchy was inherited by the younger bin Laden generation. Mohammed's sons attended Victoria College, Alexandria , Egypt. When Mohammed bin Laden died in , his son Salem bin Laden took over the family enterprises, until his own accidental death in American and European intelligence officials estimate that all the relatives of the family may number as many as In , the bin Laden family disowned Osama bin Laden , and the Saudi government revoked his passport.
The groupings of the bin Laden family, based on the nationalities of the wives, include the most prominent " Saudi group", a " Syrian group", a " Lebanese group," and an " Egyptian group". The Egyptian group employs 40, people, most likely the country's largest private foreign investor. Osama bin Laden was born the only son of Muhammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas , [ 3 ] who was of Syrian origin, [ 4 ] making Osama a member of the Syrian group.
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden 's β known sons:. Around 13 members of the Bin Laden family, alongside their associates and bodyguards, flew out of the United States on a chartered flight with Ryan International Airlines Ryan International Flight , [ 33 ] eight days after the September 11, , terrorist attacks , according to a passenger manifest released on July 21, Among the passengers with the bin Laden surname were Omar Awad bin Laden , who had lived with Osama's nephew Abdallah Awad bin Laden, who was involved in forming the U.
The Saudi government was advised of and agreed to the FBI's requirements that passengers be identified and checked against various databases before the flights departed. The Federal Aviation Administration representative working in the FBI operations center made sure that the FBI was aware of the flights of Saudi nationals and was able to screen the passengers before they were allowed to depart. Contents move to sidebar hide.
