Al-Fayed has lived in Monaco for decades, being a part of Hollywood stars’ glamour days and the marriage of Prince Rainier III to Grace Kelly. An Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Fayed once owned Harrods department store, which he sold for £1.5 billion pounds in 2010.
Amongst his current assets is the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Al-Fayed is the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who died with Lady Diana in the 1997 car accident.
Born in 1929 in Egypt, he worked in the import sector with Adnan Khashoggi in several countries before returning to Egypt to set up his own shipping company. Before that, he went from selling Coca-Cola on the street to selling sewing machines.
He became the financial adviser to the Sultan of Brunei in 1966, then one of the richest men in the world. In 1975, he joined the board of directors of the mining conglomerate Lonrho for a short period of time. It was when he arrived in the United Kingdom in 1974 that the “Al” was added to his name and he made his fortune.
In 1985, he married Heini Wathén for a second time. He went on to have four children with this second wife.
Today, he supports numerous charities through Al-Fayed Foundation. He is also the owner of the Fulham Football Club and the Ritz Hotel in Paris. He renovated this legendary hotel for four years and the rooms are all named after public figures such as Coco Chanel.
Mohamed Al-Fayed is worth an estimated $1.4 billion.
