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Osama Bin Laden Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 6, 2026 • 3 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth10 March 1957

Age54 Years

BirthplaceRiyadh, Riyadh Mintaqah, Saudi Arabia

ProfessionTerrorist and Founder of Al-Qaeda

NationalitySaudi Arabian (1957–1994); Stateless (1994–2011)

Marital statusMarried

FamilyFather: Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden; Mother: Hamida al-Attas; Multiple wives and numerous children

Osama Bin Laden Biography

Osama bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda and the planner behind several major terrorist attacks, most notably the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.

Early life and background

Osama bin Laden was born Usama ibn Mohammed ibn Awad ibn Ladin on March 10, 1957, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was one of many children of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a wealthy Yemeni-born construction businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family, and Hamida al-Attas. Raised as a devout Sunni Muslim, bin Laden grew up in a large family; published accounts list him as the 17th of 52 children. His father died in a plane crash in 1967.

Bin Laden attended schools in Lebanon and Jeddah, including Brummana High School in Lebanon and Al-Thager Model School in Jeddah. He later studied at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, where religious studies were a central interest even as he completed degrees in economics and business administration, civil engineering, and public administration. He was described as tall in stature, with black hair and dark eyes.

Career

Bin Laden rose to prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s during the conflict in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion. He traveled to Afghanistan and western Pakistan in 1979, where he supported and helped organize fighters resisting the Soviet presence. Financial contributions and logistical support drawn from his family’s resources played a role in his activities during that period.

In 1988 he helped found al-Qaeda, an organization that later carried out a series of international terrorist attacks. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for or was linked to multiple deadly incidents, including attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa in August 1998, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States, and several major attacks in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and elsewhere. The September 11, 2001 attacks — which involved four hijacked airliners and resulted in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and a combined death toll of nearly 3,000 people — are widely identified with bin Laden as the principal planner.

As al-Qaeda’s public profile grew, bin Laden became increasingly hostile toward U.S. policy in the Middle East, criticized certain governments in the Muslim world for their alliances with Western powers, and promoted the establishment of governance according to his interpretation of Sharia law. His opposition to the Saudi government led to the revocation of his Saudi citizenship in 1994.

Public profile

In the years after 2001 bin Laden was one of the most wanted individuals in the world. The FBI placed a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture. Intelligence reports and media accounts tied him to numerous al-Qaeda-directed operations and to a global militant network. He was described as having personal security and access to an arsenal that included shoulder-fired and anti-vehicle weapons.

Bin Laden maintained multiple marriages and a large family. Publicly available information lists several wives and numerous children; some sources reported he may have had more children than the counts publicly confirmed. Members of his family accompanied him at times while he moved between safehouses in the region.

Latest updates

After years in hiding across Afghanistan and Pakistan, bin Laden lived for a period in the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. Intelligence services focused on a compound there beginning in 2010. U.S. intelligence agencies carried out an identification effort that included taking a DNA sample from a relative to help confirm his presence.

On May 2, 2011, U.S. special operations forces conducted an operation at the Abbottabad compound. During that operation Osama bin Laden was killed. He was 54 years old at the time of his death. The operation and its planning were overseen at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Osama Bin Laden, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Career Highlights

  1. Founded al-Qaeda in 1988
  2. Directed and claimed responsibility for multiple international terrorist attacks, including the September 11, 2001 attacks
  3. Placed on the FBI’s most-wanted list with a $25 million reward
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Osama Bin Laden born?

Osama Bin Laden was born on 10 March 1957.

What is Osama Bin Laden known for?

Osama Bin Laden is known for terrorist and Founder of Al-Qaeda.

What is Osama Bin Laden’s marital status?

Osama Bin Laden's marital status is listed as Married.