Al Sanea discovers the pitfalls of wealth

When F Scott Fitzerald said: “The rich are different from us”, his fellow American novelist Ernest Hemingway replied: “Yes, they have more money.”

Nowhere was the truth of this observation more apparent than in London’s High Court last week when Maan al Sanea, the Kuwait-born billionaire, applied to have a freezing order lifted on his estimated US$9.2 billion (Dh33.8bn) of assets worldwide.

Mr al Sanea had been given US$10,000 a week to cover his personal expenses, but this was clearly not enough. The court heard that he needed US$800,000 a month to pay his electricity, water and mobile bills – the kind of necessities to which we can all relate, even if of a different magnitude.