Mohamed Al-Fayed, the Egyptian businessman and billionaire, is dead. He died peacefully on August 30 at the age of 94, his family said in a statement released by Fulham football club. “He had a long and fulfilling retirement surrounded by his family.” His possessions included the luxury hotel Ritz in Paris, the London department store Harrods and for a few years Fulham FC.
Al-Fayed, born in Egypt in 1929, spent most of his life in Great Britain, but was repeatedly criticized there. Conversely, among other things, he was annoyed that he was denied British citizenship. His rise to fame in the 1960s was initially helped by his first wife, Samira Khashoggi, who was the sister of a Saudi Arabian arms dealer.
Their son was Dodi Al-Fayed. The man who died almost exactly 26 years ago – on August 31, 1997 – in a car accident with Princess Diana. As a result, Mohamed Al-Fayed had heated arguments with the British royal family. Among other things, he accused Prince Philip and the British secret service of only staging the accident. Al-Fayed had four more children with his second wife.
Al-Fayed did some of the big business with his brother. In 1979 they bought the Ritz in Paris, followed in 1985 by the London department store Harrods – a step that not only made him famous but also made him a billionaire. The deal was controversial for years, partly because it’s unclear exactly where Al-Fayed got the money for the purchase. In 2010 he sold Harrods to the Qatar sovereign wealth fund for a sum of £1.5 billion.
In 1997, Al-Fayed took over Fulham FC, a football club in London that was subsequently promoted to the Premier League, Britain’s top flight. In 2013 he sold the club to Pakistani entrepreneur Shahid Khan. A statement from the club said: “Everyone associated with Fulham owes a huge debt of gratitude to Mohamed for what he has done for our club and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this dark time.”