Mohammed bin Laden and his wife, Alia Ghanem, a Syrian, give birth to Osama bin Laden in Riyadh. He is 17th of 52 children sired by bin Laden, who had 11 different wives. Bin Laden the senior is Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest construction magnate and is granted my contracts by the Royal family to build buildings, roads, and renovate Islamic holy shrines.
Osama means “young lion” in Arabic. His mother divorced Mohammed when he was three, and bin Laden was raised by his mother’s second husband. He grows up and attends school mostly in Jeddah, joining the Muslim Brotherhood at a young age.