CNN –
Mohamed Al-Fayed, the outspoken Egyptian tycoon who changed the fortunes of two London institutions, Harrods department store and Fulham football club, and waged a war of words with the British royal family after his son died in a car crash with Diana, Princess of London According to his family, Wales died. He was 94.
“Mrs Mohamed Al Fayed, her children and grandchildren would like to confirm that her beloved husband, father and grandfather Mohamed passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday, August 30, 2023,” said the family statement, issued by Fulham FC said on Friday.
Al-Fayed forced his way into London high society by purchasing a series of luxury establishments after arriving in Britain in the 1970s, and also owned the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris for four decades.
However, he proved an increasingly controversial figure during his public battle for British citizenship, and even more so after the deaths of Diana and his son Dodi Fayed in Paris in 1997.
Al-Fayed insisted for decades that the couple were murdered, despite investigations showing otherwise, and showed contempt for the British royal family in his later life.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1929, Al-Fayed took advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities presented to him during his brief marriage to Samira Khashoggi, a Saudi author and sister of billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
After working with Adnan Khashoggi and starting his own shipping company, Al-Fayed moved to London and began assembling an extensive real estate portfolio focused on luxury destinations.
As of 2021, his net worth was around $1.8 billion, according to Forbes. His business interests included Punch Magazine, Kurt Geiger, the 75 Rockefeller Plaza skyscraper in Manhattan and the Hyde Park Residence block of luxury apartments in London.
But the jewel in his billion-dollar crown was the famous Harrods department store, which spans an entire block of London’s prestigious Mayfair district and has served as the city’s most glamorous shopping destination for decades.
Al-Fayed’s high-profile bid for the House of Fraser group, which included the business, led to a direct duel with controversial British tycoon Roland “Tiny” Rowland, and the pair engaged in several rounds of public mudslinging.
Ultimately, Al-Fayed bought the group for $842 million. He often compared the famous department store to one of the ancient wonders of the world. “Harrods is my pyramid,” he told CNN in 2004.
Meanwhile, the tycoon became as famous for his lively ties to the British establishment as for his investments.
For decades he publicly fought for British citizenship, a quest that began when Rowland publicly raised questions about the source of his income. Then, in 1994, he sparked a political scandal when he named British lawmakers who had accepted money from him in exchange for asking questions in Parliament on his behalf.
After 1997, when his son and Diana died in a car accident, Al-Fayed frequently insulted the British royal family and became persona non grata among parts of the country’s elite.
“I live in a country where I feel sorry for the common people and the masses of people who live in this country. Their fate and their human rights are being hijacked by gangsters and people who call themselves the establishment,” he once told CNN.
When investigating Diana’s death in 2008, he called the group a “Dracula family.” He vowed for years, in vain, to find evidence that refuted the official conclusions about the car crash that killed the princess, and told the same court he would not rest “until I die” even if he “loses everything.” would to find out the truth”.
His relationship with the royal family was portrayed in the fifth season of The Crown last year.
Al-Fayed was questioned by police in 2008 in connection with an allegation of sexual assault which he denied, a Harrods spokesman said at the time. He eventually sold the business to the Qatari royal family in 2010 for a reported $2.25 billion.
The tycoon also became a major player in the world’s most popular sport, buying London’s oldest football club, Fulham, as it languished in England’s lower leagues.
At times it was hard to resist his flashy and opulent tendencies – such as when he erected a gold statue of Michael Jackson at Fulham’s Craven Cottage stadium, a tribute to his friend the pop superstar.
But the team’s fans remain grateful for the financial investment that has taken the team from the doldrums of the English game to the Premier League and a major European final. The tycoon’s name is still chanted weekly in the stands at Fulham games, at least ten years after he sold the club.
Al-Fayed had six children, including Dodi and the environmentalist and entrepreneur Omar Fayed.