Faisal bin Abdul Aziz founded the school in Taif in the early 1950s. In 1964 Faisal opened a large campus for the school in Jeddah, and from that point forward, arranged an annual fund of several million Saudi riyals from the national budget. Kamal Adham, Faisal's Turkish father-in-law, traveled to the United Kingdom to meet officials from the government. Adham told the officials that the school ought to be modeled after Victoria College, a school in Khartoum, Sudan inspired by British education. The Government of Saudi Arabia provided funds and staff members for the school. Steve Coll, author of "The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century", said that during the 1960s and 1970s Al-Thager "had the reputation of a private enclave for the sons of businessmen and the royal family." Al-Thager became the most prestigious school in Jeddah.