Sulaiman Olien bought U.S. stocks as collateral to get loans from American banks, a move that made him Saudi Arabia's largest owner of U.S. equities and multiplied his wealth. The strategy shows how creative financing across borders can unlock massive returns.
One of my favorite stories is somebody named Sulaiman Olien. Sulaiman was a very globally focused individual. He wanted US banks to lend him money so he could go and continue to build his operating business and conglomerate. The banks said, you have no assets in America. That means you have no collateral in America. We're not lending to you. So he started to take free cash flow from his businesses and buy stocks on the US stock market so he would have collateral. Suleiman became the largest owner of US equities in Saudi. He became insanely rich, not only on his operating business, but then he built this massive portfolio in America because it all started because he simply wanted collateral. And so, so many of these people who have been successful make decisions for reasons that you don't see on the surface unless you learn the story.
