Al Saud & Anor v Forbes LLC & Ors [2014] EWHC 3823 (QB) (26 November 2014)

Al Saud & Anor v Forbes LLC & Ors [2014] EWHC 3823 (QB) (26 November 2014)

The publications bear meanings that there are strong grounds to suspect the First Claimant intentionally used dishonest means to inflate his net worth and manipulated share prices, and that he dismissed auditors to avoid scrutiny; these meanings are defamatory of the First Claimant but not sufficiently serious to defame the Second Claimant.

Citation
[2014] EWHC 3823
Parties
Claimant: HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; Claimant: Kingdom Holding Company; Defendant: Forbes LLC; Defendant: Forbes Media LLC; Defendant: Kerry Dolan; Defendant: Francine McKenna
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
26 November 2014
Procedural Posture
Libel Action / Trial of Preliminary Issue (meaning of Words)
Outcome
Meanings found defamatory of First Claimant; not defamatory of Second Claimant.
Legal Topics
Libel, Meaning of Defamatory Words, Threshold of Seriousness, Corporate Reputation
Defamation Media Law Libel Meaning of Defamatory Words Threshold of Seriousness Corporate Reputation

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Parties

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Claimant

Kingdom Holding Company

Claimant

Forbes LLC

Defendant

Forbes Media LLC

Defendant

Kerry Dolan

Defendant

Francine McKenna

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Libel Action / Trial of Preliminary Issue (meaning of Words)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 What is the meaning of the words complained of in the publications?
  2. 2 Are the meanings defamatory of the claimants?
  3. 3 What is the level of certainty attributed to the allegations?

Ratio Decidendi

The publications bear meanings that there are strong grounds to suspect the First Claimant intentionally used dishonest means to inflate his net worth and manipulated share prices, and that he dismissed auditors to avoid scrutiny; these meanings are defamatory of the First Claimant but not sufficiently serious to defame the Second Claimant.

Court Disposition

Meanings found defamatory of First Claimant; not defamatory of Second Claimant.

Orders

  • Meanings of words complained of in first and fourth articles: strong grounds to suspect First Claimant intentionally misled Forbes and readers by dishonest means to inflate share value and net worth.
  • Meaning of words complained of in second article: reasonable grounds to suspect First Claimant terminated Ernst & Young as auditors due to their concerns about share value discrepancies and to avoid scrutiny.