Prince Faisal was born in Riyadh on 1 February 1970. He is the fifth son of Salman bin Abdulaziz, the King of Saudi Arabia, who had previously been the minister of defense since November 2011. His mother is Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi, who died in July 2011. She was a daughter of King Salman's uncle, Turki bin Ahmed Al Sudairi, who was formerly the governor of Asir Province. Faisal is a full brother of Prince Fahd, Prince Ahmed, Prince Sultan, Prince Abdulaziz and Princess Hassa. also, he has three children, Prince Fahd, Ahmed and Salman Faisal bin Salman holds a bachelor's degree in political science from King Saud University. He received a PhD from Oxford University in 1999. His PhD thesis was titled "Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: Power Politics in Transition 1968-1971", and was published by I.B.Tauris in 2003.
Career
Before embarking on a business career, Faisal bin Salman was a professor of political science at King Saud University. He studied especially political relations in the Persian Gulf region among the others during his academic career. During this period he was a research fellow at Georgetown University. After the death of his brother Prince Ahmed in 2002, Prince Faisal took over as chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group, reportedly the largest media company in the Middle East, North and Central Africa. He was reported to own around seven percent of the company, while the family of his late brother Ahmed owns three percent. Faisal bin Salman is the owner of Arab News, Asharq Al-Awsat and Al Eqtisadiah. It is reported that all these publications take a pro-government position and support King Abdullah’s cautious reforms. On the other hand, these papers are among publications owned by , which is an affiliated body of SRMG. Faisal bin Salman began to publish a new magazine through SRMG that is an Arabic translation of the magazine "Robb Report." SRMG also publishes an Islamic finance magazine and translations of Italy's design magazine Domus. In addition, the company is planning to publish other translations including Better Homes and Gardens. Prince Faisal also established a school for training journalists and other media people. He has been the chairman of Jadwa Investment, a Riyadh-based leading Saudi investment bank, since 2006. After his appointment as governor of Madinah Province, Faisal bin Salman was succeeded by his half-brother, Turki bin Salman, as chairman of the SRMG. On 14 January 2013, Faisal bin Salman was appointed governor of Madinah province at the rank of minister, replacing Abdulaziz bin Majid.
His brothers Prince Fahd and Prince Ahmed, both deceased, were involved in thoroughbred horse racing. After the death of Prince Ahmed in 2002, Prince Faisal succeeded him as the head of The Thoroughbred Corporation. In addition, he owns Belgrave Bloodstock in England. In 2002, Faisal bin Salman had 12 horses in training, with Paul Cole, Sir Mark Prescott and John Gosden in England; Aidan O'Brien in Ireland; Jean-Claude Rouget in France; and Julio Canini and Graham Motion in the United States. It is reported that his best horse is Last Second, dam of Aussie Rules. She won both the Sun Chariot Stakes and Nassau Stakes in 1996. Prince Faisal also won the 1995 Cherry Hinton Stakes with another horse, Applaud. Last Second later became his most successful broodmare and she has now died. He has his own stud now, Denford Stud near Hungerford, Berkshire. His racing manager is James Wigan. In 2011, Central Park was Faisal's best juvenile. Prince Faisal bred Aussie Rules in Kentucky and is currently racing him in cooperation with Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor. He had four mares boarded at Indian Creek Farm near Paris. The dam of Aussie Rules, Last Second, has had only one foal sell at public auction, Bold Glance, who went for $2,202,250 in October 2005. Belgrave also has kept several fillies out of Last Second, including stakes winner Approach. Other mares are kept at Chris Budgett's Kirtlington Stud in the United Kingdom.
