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Mohamed Al-Fayed

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Mohamed Fayed
Wax statue of Mohamed Fayed
Born (1933-01-27) January 27, 1933 (age 91)
Alexandria, Egypt
NationalityEgyptian
Occupation(s)Businessman
Owner of Harrods and Fulham football club
Spouse(s) Samira Khashoggi ​ ​(m. 1954⁠–⁠1956)​
Heini Wathén (1985-present)

Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed (Template:Lang-ar) (born 1933) is an Egyptian businessman living in London estimated to be worth £650 Million.

Amongst his business interests are ownership of Harrods department store in Knightsbridge and the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club.

He has two brothers; Ali Fayed and Salah Fayed. Since 1985 he has been married to Finnish socialite and former model Heini Wathén. Together they have four children and two grandchildren. A fifth child, Dodi Fayed, from Fayed's first marriage, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, along with Diana, Princess of Wales and Henri Paul, the driver of the car and employee of the Fayed-owned Hôtel Ritz Paris.

Biography

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Born in Bakos (باكوس), Alexandria, Egypt, 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 to Samira Kashoggi (1954 - 1956). 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 Richard Costain (which he became a director and 30 percent shareholder of), 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.

In 1972, he purchased a Scottish castle and surrounding estate. Fayed spent millions restoring it and was awarded The Freedom of the Highlands by the Scottish Tourist Board.

He became resident in Britain in 1974 and added the Al- to his name, earning the Private Eye nickname "the Phoney Pharaoh". 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 and is thought to have spent $500,000 per room restoring it. The French government awarded him the Medaille de Paris and made him a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur. He later restored the Villa Windsor in the Bois de Boulogne. The French government promoted to an Officier in the Legion d'Honneur and in 1989 awarded him the rare Grande Plaque de Paris.

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 brother Ali bought the rest of House of Fraser for £615m. The Harrods deal was made under the nose of Roland 'Tiny' Rowland, the head of Lonrho. Rowland had been seeking to buy Harrods and took the Fayed brothers to a Department of Trade inquiry.

In 1985, he and his brothers bought the remaining 70 percent of House of Fraser, a move that angered Rowland who had been seeking to buy Harrods. Rowland took the Fayed brothers to a Department of Trade inquiry. The inquiry, involving one of the most bitter feuds in British business history, issued a 1990 report stating that the Fayed brothers had lied about their background and wealth. The bickering with Rowland continued when he accused them of stealing millions in jewels from his Harrods safe deposit box. The pair made peace in 1992. Rowland died in 1998, and, without accepting responsibility, Fayed settled the dispute with a payment to his widow. (Fayed had been arrested during the dispute and sued the Metropolitan Police for false arrest in 2002. He lost the case.)

Also in 1985, he married Wathén, his second wife.

He 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.

For years, Fayed unsuccessfully sought British citizenship. Both Labour and Conservative Home Secretaries rejected his applications. It has been suggested that the feud with Rowland contributed to Fayed's being refused British citizenship the first time.

Mohamed Fayed was involved in the cash-for-questions affair, having offered money for questions in the commons to the Conservative MPs Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith. Both left the government in disgrace. 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. During this period Fayed was represented publicly by public relations expert Michael Cole.

In 1997 Fayed bought Fulham Football Club.

In 2003, Fayed moved from Surrey, UK to Switzerland, alleging a breach in an agreement with the Her Majesty's Inland Revenue Commissioners. In 2005, he moved back to Britain, saying that he "regards Britain as home".

Major Business Purchases

  • 1979 - Ritz Hotel Paris (£10 million)
  • 1985 - House of Fraser Group (including Harrods)(£615 million)
  • 1997 - Fulham FC (£30 million)

Business Interests

Dodi Fayed's death

Main article: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

Fayed's oldest son, Dodi Fayed, was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Both of them died in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997. Mohamed Fayed believed that the driver, Henri Paul, had plotted with the Royal Family to kill Diana and Dodi. In 2008 a public inquest was held in the UK.

On February 18, 2008, Fayed accused Prince Phillip and Prince Charles of killing Diana, because Charles was furious that she was dating with Dodi.

His testimony was roundly condemned in the press as being farcical and led to members of the British Government's Intelligence and Security Committee including George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock and Dari Taylor to accuse him of turning the Inquest into a 'circus' and calls for it to be ended prematurely. The inquest lasted six months and ruled that the couple were "unlawfully killed", but not by the Duke of Edinburgh.

Fulham FC

Fayed bought Second Division (equivalent to modern Football League One) Fulham F.C. from chairman Jimmy Hill in the summer of 1997. His initial, ambitious long-term aim was that Fulham would become a FA Premier League side within five years. To this end he installed the managerial "dream team" of Ray Wilkins and Kevin Keegan, which resulted in the sacking of Micky Adams, who had guided Fulham to promotion from the then named Third Division.

Fulham stormed to the Second Division title with a record 101 points in 1999. Kevin Keegan was appointed manager of England at this time. 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 Fayed had achieved his objective of Fulham being a Premiership club a year ahead of schedule. Also, by 2002, Fulham were competing in European football, winning the Intertoto Cup and challenging in the UEFA Cup.

Fayed stated that he wanted Fulham to become the "Manchester United of the South", referring to United's status as one of the biggest clubs in the world.

On 5 May 2007, Fayed celebrated his 10th year with Fulham. This was marked by a 1-0 win over Liverpool, which ensured that the club retained their Premiership status for another season.

In 2009, Fulham had finished 7th in the Premier League, making them eligible to play in the newly-formed Europa League, the European competition that succeeded the UEFA Cup.

Notes

  1. ^ BBC News accessed 18/02/08
  2. Cash for Questions . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/336797.stm Retrieved 20/10/07
  3. CNN News accessed 18/02/08
  4. BBC NEWS | UK | Coroner warning in Diana inquest

External links

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