Sultan was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia at the time of his death. He served as the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Aviation. He was one of the Sudairi Seven. Sultan was first in the Saudi line of succession.

Sultan was born in Riyadh. He was the 15th son of King Abdul-Aziz and his mother was Princess Hassa Al-Sudairi (1910–2003).

Sultan, along with many of his brothers, received his early education in religion, modern culture, and diplomacy at the royal court. He became Governor of Riyadh in 1947. In 1947, he oversaw ARAMCO's construction of the Kingdom's rail link between Dammam and Riyadh. He became Minister of Agriculture in 1953 and Minister of Communications in 1988.

In 1962, King Faisal appointed Sultan as Minister of Defense and Aviation. He presided over the development of the Saudi armed forces.

Sultan purchased U.S. tanks, fighter planes, missiles and AWACS (airborne warning and control systems). However, as a result of problems assimilating technology within its armed forces, a relatively high proportion of the military equipment is stored or under maintenance, despite a large portion of Saudi's $34 billion defense budget being spent on maintaining military equipment. Sultan allegedly became extraordinarily wealthy from kickbacks by Western businesses that handled multibillion-dollar defense contracts. He was involved in many scandals, including the Al-Yamamah deal. However, his influence remained unhindered until his health began to deteriorate. During his tenure, Saudi Arabia became the largest importer of U.S. arms. He was a strong proponent of U.S.-Saudi partnership.

In 1996, Sultan opposed Pentagon plans to relocate U.S. troops to safer locations after the Dhahran complex bombings.

In 1982, King Fahd appointed Sultan as Second Deputy Prime Minister.

Sultan was an expert on the Yemen civil war and Soviet involvement in the Horn of Africa in 1985.

Sultan had been rumored to have had colon cancer in 2003. A foreign correspondent was forced to leave the country after reporting his health problems.

On 1 August 2005, Sultan became Crown Prince despite having a discord with King Abdullah. As Heir Apparent and Crown Prince, Sultan was first in the Saudi line of succession.

A leaked March 2009 diplomatic cable from WikiLeaks stated that U.S. diplomats viewed Sultan as "for all intents and purposes incapacitated". He was possibly suffering dementia, specifically Alzheimer's disease.

In February 2009, Sultan underwent surgery in New York. He then convalesced at Agadir, Morocco. He went back to Saudi Arabia, but soon returned to Morocco in August. During his vacation, the Saudi cabinet increased officer salaries, a traditional domain of Sultan.

In 2009, King Abdullah took charge of all defense purchases and reduced the power of the Defense Ministry. In October 2010, Abdullah personally conducted much of the negotiations for the U.S. arms package worth over $60 billion.

In November 2010, Sultan received Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri to discuss the future of Lebanon's government. He had been receiving treatment for the previous two years for what analysts and diplomats believed to be cancer. At the end of the month, he returned to Saudi Arabia because King Abdullah left for the United States for surgery. His return was seen as a legal formality necessary under Saudi law, which stipulates that only one of the kingdom's top two officials can be abroad at a given time.

Sultan was Saudi Arabia's Inspector General. He was Chairman of the Board of Saudi Arabia's national airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines. As Chairman, he approved a ban on smoking inside all Saudi airports. In 1986, he founded the Saudi National Commission for Wildlife Conservation. He was the founder and patron of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz International Prize for Water, a bi-annual international scientific award for water research.

Sultan had seven sons. His son Prince Khalid was a key Saudi general in the 1991 Gulf War. His son Prince Bandar was Ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005. His son Fahd is Deputy President of Sport and Welfare. His other sons are Abdullah, Turki, Meshal and Faisal.

In 2004, Sultan was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent several corrective surgeries. He underwent an operation to remove an intestinal polyp. In April 2009, he started to suffer from Alzheimer's disease. He spent several months in New York City at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital and underwent surgery. He then convalesced at Agadir, Morocco, and remained abroad most of the time, undergoing medical treatments. Sultan spoke English fluently.

Wives: 

• Princess Monera bint Abdul-Aziz bin Mousad Al Saud, mother of Prince Khalid (deceased)
• Princess Huda bint Abdullah Alshaikh
• Princess Areej bint Salem Al Maree
• Princess Jowaher bint Mohammed bin Saud bin Nasser Al Farhan Al Saud (divorced)
• Princess Mouda bint Saud Al Kabeer Al Saud (divorced)
• Princess Mounira bint Machaal bin Saud Al Rashid (deceased)
• Princess Leila bint Thanian Al Saud (divorced)
• Princess Mouda bint Salman Al Mandeel Al Khaldi (divorced)
• Princess Ghadir bint Shawaan Al Shibani (divorced)
• Princess Maha bint Abdullah Al Binyan (divorced)
• Princess Abir bint Fahd Al Faisal Al Farhan Al Saud (divorced)

According to a statement made by the Saudi Royal court on Saturday, 22 October 2011, Sultan died at "dawn" on "Saturday morning," of an unspecified illness. The statement added that he died "outside the kingdom". According to media reports, Sultan had been battling cancer for some years and had been seeking medical treatment in the United States since June 2011. According to unnamed U.S. officials cited by the The New York Times, he died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.

Wikipedia, BBC