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 Legion of Honor, owns a hotel, a palace and a London department store. He became the owner of the English football club Fulham.
Childhood
Mohammed Al-Fayed was born on January 27, 1929 in Egypt, in Bakos. In the family, he was the eldest son. Mohammed's father was a simple school teacher. He raised two more sons of Salah and Ali. Mohammed received a good education, graduating from the University of Alexandria.
Start-up business
He began to do business in his school years. And he started with trading ordinary lemonade. 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 some time, the brothers opened several branches of the agency in London. Mohammed stayed there to live.
New directions in work
In the mid-60s, Mohammed Al-Fayed met with Rashid al Makhtum, the ruler of Dubai, the sheikh. The latter entrusted Mohammed to carry out the changes planned by him in his possessions. He began working with three British construction companies. And in 1966, Mohammed was appointed financial adviser to Omar Ali Sayfuddin III, the Sultan.
In Great Britain, Al-Fayed "took root" finally only in 1974. Then, the prefix "Al" was added to his surname. For this, in some circles, Mohammed was called the "pharaoh pharaoh." In 1975, he was for some time on the board of the conglomerate Lonrho. But it soon became clear that their views differ greatly from their colleagues. And Mohammed left the company.
In 1987, he became the founder of a charitable foundation, which he named his name. The organization’s goal was to help children with disabilities or those living in poverty. In the ninety-sixth year, Mohammed revived the Punch comedy project. But it did not last long again and was closed in 2002.
Major acquisitions
In 1972, Mohammed Al-Fayed acquired a castle in Scotland. And with it the surrounding lands. To restore the castle, Mohammed had to spend a large sum - several million dollars. And at the end of the restoration work, he was awarded a tourist prize.
In 1979, Mohammed acquired the Ritz Hotel. For each restored number, it took half a million dollars. Such generosity was appreciated by the French authorities, and Mohammed was awarded the Paris Medal. At the same time, he was initiated into the Knights of the Legion of Honor.
Somewhat later, Mohammed restored the villa in Bois de Bologna. For this restoration, he was promoted from the cavalier of the Legion of Honor to an officer. And in the eighty-ninth year he received a rare award, which is awarded for special merits - the Grand Paris Order.
In 1984, Mohammed and his brothers bought back thirty percent of the shares in the company, which owned a network of London brand stores. Securities sold them R. Rowland, who was the head of the conglomerate Lonrho. In 1985, Mohammed bought with the brothers the remaining seventy percent of the shares. This infuriated Rowland, as his plans included getting his own campaign.
Courts have begun. The brothers were even accused of stealing diamonds. But in 1992, the conflicting parties ended the lawsuits with a settlement. In 1998, Rowland died and the brothers started a new lawsuit regarding widow payments. Mohammed was taken into custody and lost the case.
Another acquisition of Mohammed is Fulham, a football club. It was founded in 1879. It got its name thanks to the area in which there is a home area. Before the acquisition of the club by Mohammed, the sports organization was rather poor. It did not even have its own stadium - other people's fields were rented for football games.
The team also did not show good results, as it was unprofessional, assembled from Sunday school students. It was a difficult time for the club. But everything changed in the ninety-seventh year. It was in this year that Fulham (a football club) acquired Mohammed. The team, after certain financial injections, was even able to enter the major 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 either, in 2010 the team reached the final game of the Europa League. But following the meeting, she lost to the Spanish club Atletico Madrid.
Mohammed's personal life
For the first time, Mohammed Al-Fayed married in 1954 with Samir Kashoggi. But they lived in marriage for only two years, and then a divorce followed. Samira and Mohammed had a son, Dodi. But he died on the thirty-first of August in a car accident along with Princess Diana. Mohammed married a second time in 1985 to socialite Haini Waten, Finnish. She was previously a model. The marriage was happy. The spouses have four children.