Shaher Abdulhak

Shaher Abdulhak (born c. 1938^[1]) is a Yemeni businessman. Shaher Abdulhaq is one of the most famous billionaires in the Middle East. The Abdulhaq family are the owners of many companies in Yemen and throughout the Middle East such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes, and Philips.

Career

In 1963 Abdulhak founded the company "Shaher Trading", an enterprise involved in petroleum, soft drinks, tourism and property.^[2][3] Abdulhak is known as the "King of Sugar" in Yemen, where he holds great influence also politically.^[4] He is a personal friend of president Ali Abdullah Saleh.^[5] In spite of his prominent position in Yemeni society, Abdulhak is media-shy; he never grants interviews and no photo of him has ever been printed in the local press.^[4] In December 2009, his picture was shown for the first time in public media when Norwegian newspaper VG printed a private photograph of him.^[6]

Murder of Martine Vik Magnussen

Shaher Abdulhaq is the father of Farouk Abdulhak, the only suspect in the rape and murder of the 23-year-old Norwegian female business student, Martine Vik Magnussen. In December 2010, VG reported that a group of elected representatives in the Norwegian Parliament has written to Shaher Abdulhak's business connections,^[7] including Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz-manufacturer Daimler AG, Whirlpool, Philips, Xerox and Clorox, requesting they review their commercial relationships. On 16 December 2010, VG confirmed that Daimler AG had served notice ^[7] to terminate its distribution contract with United Engineering & Automobile Co. Ltd. On 15 February 2011 a letter to the elected representatives from Abdulhak was published by Norwegian media, allegedly threatening the representatives with legal action.^[8][9]

References