Mohammed Al Fayed: biography and photos

Mohammed Al Fayed, whose biography is presented in this article, is an Egyptian businessman, a billionaire. His fortune is estimated at 2.4 billion dollars. Mohammed is the owner of the Order of the Legion of Honor, owns the hotel, the palace and the London department store. He became the owner of English football club "Fulham".

Childhood

Mohammed Al Fayed was born on the twenty-seventh day of January 1929 in Egypt, in Bakos. In the family he was the eldest son. Father Mohammed was a simple schoolteacher. He raised two more sons of Salah and Ali. Mohammed received a good education, graduating from the University of Alexandria.

Starting business

He began to study business in school years. And I started with the usual lemonade trade. Then, together with his brothers, he organized a serious family business - forwarding agency. First, the central office was in Egypt, then moved to Genoa. After a while, the brothers opened several branches of the agency in London. Mohammed remained there to live.

New directions in work

In the mid-1960s, Mohammed Al Fayed Met with Rashid al-Makhtum, the ruler of Dubai, sheikh. The latter entrusted Mohammed to carry out the changes he had conceived in his own possessions. He began working with three British companies that were engaged in construction. And in 1966 Mohammed was appointed financial adviser to Omar Ali Saifuddin III, the Sultan.

In Britain, Al-Fayed "took root" definitively only in 1974. Then the prefix "Al" was added to his surname. For this in some circles, Mohammed began to be called a "phony pharaoh". In 1975, he was for some time in the board of the conglomerate Lonrho. But it soon became clear that their views with colleagues are very different. And Mohammed left the company.

In 1987, he became the founder of a charitable foundation, which he named his own name. The aim of the organization was to help children with disabilities or living in poverty. In the ninety-sixth year, Mohammed revived the humorous project Punch. But it did not last long and was closed in 2002.

Major acquisitions

In 1972, Mohammed Al Fayed purchased a castle in Scotland. And with it, and the surrounding land. To restore the castle, Mohammed had to spend a large amount - several million dollars. And after the completion of the restoration work, he was awarded a tourist prize.

In 1979, Mohammed bought the hotel Ritz. Each recovered number was half a million dollars. Such generosity was assessed by the French authorities, and Mohammed was awarded the Paris medal. At the same time, he was consecrated in the honorary Legion.

Somewhat later, Mohammed rebuilt the villa in Bois de Bologna. For this restoration, he was promoted from the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor to the officer. And in the eighty-ninth year he received a rare award, which is awarded for special merits - the Great Paris Order.

In 1984, Mohammed and his brothers bought out thirty percent of shares in a company that owned a network of London brand stores. Securities they sold R. Rowland, who was the head of the conglomerate Lonrho. In 1985, Mohammed bought out the remaining seventy percent of the shares with his brothers. This caused Rowland to be furious, as his plans included getting a campaign into his property.

Courts began. The brothers were even accused of stealing diamonds. But in 1992, the conflicting parties ended the trials with an amicable agreement. In 1998, Rowland died, and the brothers began a new trial concerning payments to the widow. Mohammed was arrested and lost the case.

Another acquisition of Mohammed - "Fulham", a football club. It was founded in 1879, it got its name thanks to the area in which the home ground is located. Before the acquisition of the club by Mohammed, the sports organization was rather poor. It did not even have its own stadium - for the football games were leased other people's fields.

The team also did not show good results, as it was unprofessional, collected from Sunday school students. For the club, these were hard times. But everything changed in ninety-seven. It was in this year that Fulham (football club) was acquired by Mohammed. The team after certain financial injections even managed to reach the top English football league. But even the money of the billionaire could not help to achieve good results and major victories. Although there were no disastrous seasons, and in 2010 the team reached the final game of the Europa League. But after the meeting, she lost to the Spanish club Atletico Madrid.

Personal life of Mohammed

For the first time, Mohammed Al Fayed Married in 1954 on Samir Kashoggi. But in marriage they lived only two years, and then a divorce followed. Samira and Mohammed had a son, Dodi. But he died August 31 in a car crash with Princess Diana. Mohammed married the second time in 1985 on a secular lioness Haini Wathen, a Finnish. Previously, it was a model. Marriage was happy. The couple have four children.