Wafic Rida Saïd (Arabic: وفيق رضا سعيد) (born 21 December 1939, in Damascus) is a Syrian-Saudi Arabian businessman living in Monaco and Paris.
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Saïd married British born Ann Rosemary Thompson in 1969. Their first son, Karim Rida Saïd, died in a swimming-pool accident in 1981 at the home of one of a Saudi Arabia royal family member.[1]
Saïd started his business career in banking in 1963 at UBS Geneva. In 1969, he established a project development and construction management business in Saudi Arabia. The following two decades, during the period when Saudi Arabia was building its infrastructure, saw his group handle some of the largest public sector projects in the Kingdom. He became a billionaire through his connections with the Saudi royal family, acting as an advisor and consultant on many major infrastructure, industrial and defence related projects including the multi-billion dollar Al-Yamamah arms deal, which was considered controversial at the time but Saïd believed it wasn't. He stated in an interview:
"It is no secret, I have great affection for Britain and I am a great admirer of Margaret Thatcher. I was asked by her government to advise and help them secure the al-Yamamah contract, one of the biggest procurement contracts ever, because of my wide knowledge of Saudi Arabia and my contacts there. I was convinced that this was a strategically important contract for both Britain and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia needed the technology and Britain’s support for their air force, and Britain needed to save its struggling aeronautical industry and to create thousands of jobs. I am very proud of the small part I played in helping Prime Minister Thatcher secure 'the contract of the century' for Britain, but sadly some of the press chooses not see it that way."[2]
He is Chairman of Said Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, incorporated in Bermuda, with investments in Europe, North America and the Far East. It has diverse portfolios, which include fixed income, quoted equities, hedge funds, private equity and real assets including real estate.
In 1982 he founded The Karim Rida Saïd Foundation, now "Saïd Foundation", a UK registered charity that aims to bring positive and lasting change to the lives of children and young people in the Middle East and promote better understanding between Western and Arab/Islamic cultures.
In 1996, Wafic Saïd donated £23 million to establish the Saïd Business School, at the University of Oxford and has since established a Strategic Development Fund for the School with a capital value of £25 million and committed another £15 million to start construction on a new building that will house the Saïd Business School Centre for Executive Education. Saïd also provided substantial funding for the establishment of the Wafic Saïd Molecular Cardiology & Gene Therapy Research Laboratory at the Texas Heart Institute, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas. In 2003 he became the first recipient of the Sheldon Medal, which had been newly established by Oxford University to honour exceptional supporters of the University. He is also a member of Oxford University Court of Benefactors, Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford and Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In April 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Damascus University for his "important philanthropic contribution for Higher Education in Syria".
In 2000 Saïd commissioned architect Sir William Whitfield to design on the site of an old country house a neo-Palladian country house, Tusmore Park in Oxfordshire, England. In 2004 the Georgian Group gave Tusmore Park its award for the best new building in the classical tradition.[3] He also has houses in Monaco, London, Paris and Marbella.
Saïd is Ambassador and Head of the delegation of St Vincent and the Grenadines to UNESCO since 1996 (hence his entitlement to the style 'His Excellency' chiefly used in the context of his diplomatic role).[4]
In the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 65th with an estimated fortune of £1,000 million.[5]