The House was an early backer of Abdulaziz al Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia, and has been active in Saudi Arabian politics since the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Qasim bin Zainal Alireza was elected as the deputy for Jeddah within the Ottoman parliament of 1908, and his uncle Abdullah Alireza Zainal served as kaymakam (equivalent to governor) of Jeddah during the Hashemite and the early years of al Saud rule. Abdullah Alireza later became a senior advisor to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Abdullah Alireza Zainal’s son, Muhammad, became the second Minister of Commerce from 1953 to 1958, and later served as the Saudi ambassador to Egypt and France.

One of Zainal Alireza’s sons, Muhammad Ali Zainal Alireza, established two schools, first in Jeddah in 1905 and then in Mecca in 1912, for poor children and did not charge school fees. As the country was still in the Ottoman Empire, the language of instruction was Ottoman Turkish.

Further schools were opened but were closed due to violations of British laws. Following the establishment of the schools, Muhammad Ali Zainal Alireza went on to establish himself as a successful pearl merchant in Paris and Bombay by importing Persian Gulf pearls to both Europe and India. At one point in time, he used pearl trading to become the richest man on Earth.

The House of Alireza has since expanded its businesses to include real estate, representative agency rights for the shippers that delivered their cargo and joint ventures with construction and engineering companies with whom they contributed to the Saudi Arabian infrastructural development. In 1929, the business was renamed Haji Abdullah Alireza & Co., and received first commercial registration in Saudi Arabia (license number 1). In 1940, the House of Alireza beat out Harry St. John Philby for rights to the first Ford dealership in the kingdom, and quickly went on to acquire the rights of other prominent Western brands such as Pepsi Cola, Goodyear, and Dunlop. In 2003 the company was incorporated into a limited liability company and began to expand its operations into new areas, such as real estate, telecommunication, tourism, travel, and maritime services.

Zainal Alireza’s grandson, Ahmed Alireza, died in 2012. His surviving sons, Khalid, Mohammed, Abdullah, and Yousuf, as well as some of their children, Aamer, Hatim, Raaid, and Emran serve as executives for several of the House of Alireza’s commercial interests, including Xenel Group (a phonetic homage to Zainal Alireza).

Xenel aspires to be at the forefront of developing major projects, leveraging its global presence and strategic foresight. The group aims to shape a more sustainable and prosperous future, building on its legacy of innovation and connecting worlds.