Jump to content

Mohamed Al-Fayed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kaihoku (talk | contribs) at 18:25, 18 August 2012 (→‎Business interests). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mohamed Al-Fayed
محمد الفايد
Fayed in 2011
Born
Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed

(1933-01-27) 27 January 1933 (age 91)
El-Gomorok, Alexandria, Egypt
NationalityEgyptian
Occupation(s)Owner of the Hôtel Ritz Paris and Fulham football club,
former owner of Harrods department store and the House of Fraser, Philanthropist
Spouse(s)Samira Khashoggi (1954–1956)
Heini Wathén (1985–present)
ChildrenDodi Al-Fayed
Jasmine Al-Fayed
Karim Al-Fayed
Camilla Al-Fayed
Omar Al-Fayed
Websitealfayed.com

Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (Arabic: محمد عبد المنعم الفايد, Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Munʻim al-Fāyad; born 27 January 1933) is an Egyptian businessman. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge. Fayed has three siblings: Ali, Salah, and Safia; and married Finnish socialite and former model Heini Wathén in 1985, with whom he had four children: Jasmine, Karim, Camilla, and Omar; and three grandchildren. Fayed's son, Dodi, from his first marriage to Samira Khashoggi, died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris along with Diana, Princess of Wales and driver Henri Paul on 31 August 1997. Fayed's wealth is estimated at $1.2 billion, making him the 993rd-richest person in the world.

Early life

Born in Bakos (باكوس), Alexandria, Egypt,[1] as the eldest son of an Egyptian primary school teacher, Fayed's first entrepreneurial venture began at school where he sold homemade lemonade. He was married for two years, from 1954 to 1956, to Samira Kashoggi.

United Kingdom

Fayed and his brothers founded a shipping company in Egypt before moving its headquarters to Genoa, Italy with additional offices in London. It was then that Fayed moved to England where he lived in central London. In the mid 1960s, Fayed met the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid al Makhtoum who entrusted Fayed with helping transform Dubai. Fayed introduced British companies like the Costain Group (of which he became a director and 30 percent shareholder), Bernard Sunley and Taylor Woodrow to the Emirate to carry out the required construction work. He also became a financial adviser to the then Sultan of Brunei Omar Ali Saifuddien III, in 1966.

Fayed set up IMS (International Marine Services) in 1968 Dubai.

He briefly joined the board of the mining conglomerate Lonrho in 1975 but left after a disagreement. In 1979, Fayed bought The Ritz hotel in Paris, France for US$30 million.[2]

In 1984, Fayed and his brothers purchased a 30 percent stake in House of Fraser, a group that included the famous London store Harrods, from Roland 'Tiny' Rowland, the head of Lonrho. In 1985, he and his brothers bought the remaining 70 percent of House of Fraser for £615m. Rowland claimed the Fayed brothers had lied about their background and wealth and put pressure on the government to investigate them. A Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) inquiry into the Fayeds was launched. The DTI's subsequent report was critical, but no action was taken against the Fayeds, and whilst many believed the contents of the report, others felt it was politically motivated.[3]

In 1998, Rowland accused Fayed of stealing papers and jewels from his Harrods safe deposit box. Fayed was arrested, but the charges were dropped.[4] Rowland died in 1998. Fayed settled the dispute with a payment to his widow; he also sued the Metropolitan Police for false arrest in 2002, but lost the case.[5]

Fayed set up the Al Fayed Charitable Foundation in 1987 that aims to help children with life-limiting conditions and children living in poverty. In 1994, House of Fraser went public, but Fayed retained private ownership of Harrods. He relaunched the humour publication Punch in 1996 but it folded again in 2002. Al Fayed unsuccessfully applied for British citizenship twice - once in 1994 and once in 1999.[6][7] It has been suggested that the feud with Rowland contributed to Fayed's being refused British citizenship the first time.[8]

In 1994, in what became known as the cash-for-questions affair, Fayed revealed the names of MPs he had paid to ask questions in parliament on his behalf, but who had failed to declare their fees. It saw the Conservative MPs Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith leave the government in disgrace, and a Committee on Standards in Public Life established to prevent such corruption occurring again. Fayed also revealed that the cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken had stayed for free at the Ritz Hotel in Paris at the same time as a group of Saudi arms dealers leading to Aitken's subsequent unsuccessful libel case and imprisonment for perjury.[9] During this period Fayed was represented publicly by public relations expert and former BBC journalist Michael Cole.

In 2003, Fayed moved from Surrey, UK to Switzerland, alleging a breach in an agreement with Inland Revenue. In 2005, he moved back to Britain, saying that he "regards Britain as home".[8] He moors a yacht in Monaco called the Sokar.[10]

After previously denying that Harrods was for sale, Harrods was sold to Qatar Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund of the emirate of Qatar, on 10 May 2010. A fortnight previously, Fayed had stated that "People approach us from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar. Fair enough. But I put two fingers up to them. It is not for sale. This is not Marks and Spencer or Sainsbury's. It is a special place that gives people pleasure. There is only one Mecca."[11]

Harrods was sold for £1.5 billion. Fayed later revealed in an interview that he decided to sell Harrods following the difficulty in getting his dividend approved by the trustee of the Harrods pension fund. Fayed said "I'm here every day, I can't take my profit because I have to take a permission of those bloody idiots...I say is this right? Is this logic? Somebody like me? I run a business and I need to take bloody fucking trustee's permission to take my profit"[12] Fayed was appointed honorary chairman of Harrods, a position he will hold for at least six months.[12]

Scotland

In 1972, Fayed purchased the Balnagowan estate [1] in Easter Ross, Ross, Northern Scotland. From an initial twelve acres, Al-Fayed has since built the estate up to sixty five thousand acres.[13] Al-Fayed has invested more than £20 million in the estate, restored the 14th century pink Balnagowan castle, and created a tourist accommodation business.[13] The Highlands of Scotland tourist board awarded Al-Fayed the "Freedom of the Highlands" in 2002, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution and commitment to the highlands".

As an Egyptian with links to Scotland, Al-Fayed was intrigued enough to fund a 2008 reprint of the 15th century chronicle Scotichronicon by Walter Bower. The Scotichronicon describes how Scota, a sister of the Egyptian Pharoh Tutankhamen, fled her family and landed in Scotland, bringing with her the Stone of Scone. According to the chronicle, Scotland was later named in her honour. The tale is disputed by modern historians.[14] Al-Fayed later declared that "The Scots are originally Egyptians and that's the truth" [15]

In 2009 Al-Fayed revealed that he was a supporter of Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, announcing to the Scots that "It's time for you to waken up and detach yourselves from the English and their terrible politicians...whatever help is needed for Scotland to regain its independence, I will provide it...when you Scots regain your freedom, I am ready to be your president" [15]

Fulham F.C.

Main article: Fulham F.C. § 1997–2001: Al Fayed takeover

Al-Fayed bought the freehold of West London professional football club Fulham F.C. for £6.25 million in 1997.[16] The club was purchased via Bill Muddyman's Muddyman Group.[16] His long-term aim was that Fulham would become a FA Premier League side within five years. In 2001, Fulham took the First Division (now Football League Championship) under manager Jean Tigana, winning 100 points and scoring over 100 goals in the season. This meant that Al-Fayed had achieved his objective of Fulham being a Premiership club a year ahead of schedule. By 2002, Fulham were competing in European football, winning the Intertoto Cup and challenging in the UEFA Cup. Fulham have since continued to play in the Premiership, and reached the final of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.

Fulham temporarily left Craven Cottage whilst it was being upgraded to meet modern safety standards. There were fears that Fulham would not return to the Cottage, after it was revealed that Al-Fayed had sold the first right to build on the ground to a property development firm.[17]

Fulham lost a legal case against former manager Tigana in 2004 after Al-Fayed had wrongly alleged that Tigana had overpaid more than £7m for new players and had negotiated transfers in secret.[18] In May 2007 Al-Fayed said he was interested in helping Scottish football team Ross County, following their relegation.[19] In 2009 Al-Fayed revealed that he was in favour of a wage cap for footballers, and criticised the management of The Football Association and Premier League as "run by donkeys who don't understand business, who are dazzled by money." [20]

A statue of Michael Jackson was unveiled by Al-Fayed in April 2011 at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium. In 1999 Jackson had attended a league game against Wigan Athletic F.C. at the stadium. Following criticisms of the statue, Al-Fayed said "If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world they can go to hell. I don't want them to be fans."[21]

Fulham F.C. is owned by Mafco Holdings, based in the tax haven of Bermuda. Mafco Holdings is owned by Al-Fayed and his family. By 2011, Al-Fayed had loaned Fulham F.C. £187 million in interest free loans.[22]

Dodi's death

Further information: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed

Fayed's son, Dodi, was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales. However, on 31 August 1997, Diana and Dodi died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. Fayed believed that the driver, Henri Paul (who was also killed), had plotted with the Royal Family to kill Diana and Dodi. On 2 October 2007, an inquest was opened in London. On 18 February 2008, Fayed accused The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales of killing Diana and Dodi because the Prince was furious that Diana was dating Dodi.[23] His testimony was roundly condemned in the press as being farcical. Members of the British Government's Intelligence and Security Committee accused Fayed of turning the inquest into a 'circus' and called for it to be ended maturely.[24] The inquest lasted for six months, and the jury verdict, declared given on 7 April 2008, was that Diana and Dodi had been unlawfully killed through the negligent driving of Henri Paul and those in control of the pursuing vehicles.

Business interests

Al-Fayed's business interests include:

Al-Fayed's major business purchases have included:

  • Ritz Hotel Paris (1979, £10 million)
  • House of Fraser Group, including Harrods (1985, £615 million)
  • Fulham FC (1997, £30 million)."[6]

References

  1. ^ Who's Who 2008: London, A & C Black, 2008 ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
  2. ^ "The Ritz Paris" Mark Boxer, Thames and Hudson 1991.
  3. ^ "The Guardian" Finance: DTI inquiries under attack, by Lisa Buckingham, 5 June 1997.
  4. ^ "Harrods Box Charges Dropped". bbc.co.uk. 20 July 1998.
  5. ^ Wilson, Jamie (13 August 2002). "Fayed loses High Court Action Against Met". The Guardian.
  6. ^ a b "Al Fayed: A Unique Story of Rags to Riches". bbc.co.uk. 12 February 1998. Cite error: The named reference "Al Fayed Story" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Law Report". The Independent. 19 November 1996.
  8. ^ a b BBC News accessed 18/02/08
  9. ^ "UK Politics: Talking Politics, Neil Hamilton - A chronology". bbc.co.uk. 19 October 1998.
  10. ^ "Monaco Yacht Show". Holiday.monacoeye.com. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Qatar, the tiny gulf state that bought the world". Independent.co.uk. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Mohammed Fayed: Why I Sold Harrods". Thisislondon.co.uk. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  13. ^ a b Kelbie, Paul (4 July 2005). "Al-Fayed to fill Highland estate with jet-set homes". The Independent. London.
  14. ^ Wade, Mike (19 May 2008). "Al Fayed, a Princess and another theory the establishment denies". The Times. London.
  15. ^ a b Horne, Marc (25 October 2009). "Forget Salmond: Make me your ruler". The Times. London.
  16. ^ a b Bose, Mihir (7 February 2003). "Fulham pushed out Hill". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  17. ^ BBC News Online (15 September 2003). "Fulham's future hangs in balance".
  18. ^ BBC News Online (12 November 2004). "Fulham lose Tigana court battle".
  19. ^ "Al Fayed offer interests County". BBC News Online. 18 May 2007.
  20. ^ Charles, Chris (29 April 2009). "Sport quotes of the week". BBC News Online.
  21. ^ "Michael Jackson Fulham FC statue defended by Al Fayed". BBC News. 3 April 2011.
  22. ^ Conn, David (19 May 2010). "Record income but record losses for Premier League". London: The Guardian.
  23. ^ CNN News accessed 18/02/08
  24. ^ "Coroner warning in Diana inquest". BBC News. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2010.

{{{inline}}}

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohamed_Al-Fayed&oldid=508016727"