| Mohamed Al-Fayed محمد الفايد |
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Fayed in 2011 |
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| Born | Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed January 27, 1933 El-Gomorok, Alexandria, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Occupation | Owner of the Hôtel Ritz Paris and Fulham football club, former owner of Harrods department store and the House of Fraser, Philanthropist |
| Net worth | $1.2 billion |
| Spouse | Samira Khashoggi (1954–1956) Heini Wathén (1985–present) |
| Children | Dodi Al-Fayed Jasmine Al-Fayed Karim Al-Fayed Camilla Al-Fayed Omar Al-Fayed |
| Website | |
| alfayed.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 and billionaire. 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 his companion 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.
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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, from 1954 to 1956, to Samira Kashoggi.
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. 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.[1]
Fayed became resident in the United Kingdom in 1974 and added the Al- to his name. 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 unsuccessfullly 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]
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". 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. In the 2009-2010 season, Fulham qualified to the Europa League final against Atlético Madrid.
In April 2011, Al-Fayed divided opinion amongst Fulham fans by erecting a statue of Michael Jackson that was originally intended for Harrods, outside Craven Cottage.[13] In response to negative comments about the statue he said "Why is it bizarre? Football fans love it. 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. If they don't understand and don't believe in things I believe in they can go to Chelsea, they can go to anywhere else."[14] [15]
Fayed's son, Dodi, was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales. However, on 31 August 1997, both Diana and Dodi died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. Fayed believed that the driver, Henri Paul, 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.[16] His testimony was roundly condemned in the press as being farcical. Members of the British Government's Intelligence and Security Committee accused him of turning the inquest into a 'circus' and called for it to be ended maturely.[17] 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 their Mercedes and the pursuing vehicles.
Al-Fayed's business interests include:
Al-Fayed's major business purchases have included: