MBC was the first broadcaster to provide a satellite-based free-to-air 24-hour television network across the Arab world. It has remained privately owned, managed by a group of businessmen and shareholders, including chairman and CEO Sheikh Waleed Al Ibrahim. The shareholder list has never been verified although an American academic states that it is owned by members of the Saudi royal family and cablegate leaks revealed the US Ambassador had been told that MBC is owned by Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, the chairman of the channel and brother-in-law of the late King Fahd, half of the profits go to King Fahd's son, Abdulaziz bin Fahd.