Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed died at the age of 94 Last Wednesday surrounded by his loved ones, his family said in statements reproduced this Friday by British media. The businessman is the owner of the Harrods department store and the father of Dodi, his eldest son. died in the same accident as Princess Diana of Wales on August 31, 1997.

“Mohamed al Fayed’s mother, children and grandchildren want to ensure that her beloved husband, father and grandfather, Mohamed, died peacefully, in old age, on Wednesday, 30 August 2023″, read a statement issued by London football club Fulham FC -which was once owned by Al Fayed- and compiled by ‘The Guardian’. “He is enjoying a long and full retirement, surrounded by people -your loved ones who. “The family has asked that their privacy be respected at this time,” the letter added.

Mohamed al Fayed was born in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, the son of a schoolteacher, and He started his professional career selling soft drinks and selling sewing machines, but his emergence into the business world came after meeting his first wife, Samira Khashoggi, the sister of Saudi millionaire Adnan Khashoggi.

This job allowed him to build many professional ties in Egypt, which would later allow him to start his own shipping business and later serve as an advisor to the Sultan of Brunei. In 1975, while already in England, he served on the board of directors of the mining conglomerate Lonrho. four years later, he bought the Paris Ritz hotel with his brother Ali.

The next major acquisition of the Al Fayed brothers was Harrods, in 1985, after a public offer acquisition of 615 million pounds sterling (about 717 million euros) by department store Knightsbridge (London). Al Fayed also made, in 1997, with London football club Fulham FC for 6.25 million pounds (about 7.29 million euros), which he would sell in 2013 to billionaire businessman Shahid Khan.

Apart from his work as an entrepreneur, this billionaire from Egypt became famous because of the long campaign he started after the death of his sons Dodi and Diana of Wales. Al Fayed defended that the accident that caused both of them to die was not something like that, but had happened regulated by the British security service. Al Fayed formed a friendship with Princess Diana thanks to their friendship charity sponsors and other events attended by members of the royal family, notes ‘The Guardian’.

This Egyptian tycoon is also known for his confrontation with the British Government in response to his refusal to grant him British citizenshipalthough he has lived for decades in the country.