Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed[a] (/ælˈfaɪ.ɛd/; 27 January 1929 – 30 August 2023) was an Egyptian billionaire businessman, whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, and Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club, both in London. At the time of his death in 2023, Fayed's wealth was estimated at US$2 billion by Forbes.[1]
"Al-Fayed" redirects here. For other uses, see Fayed.
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Fayed was married to Samira Khashoggi from 1954 to 1956, and they had a son Dodi. Dodi was in a romantic relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, when they both died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Early and family life[edit]
Mohamed Al-Fayed was born on 27 January 1929 in the Roshdy neighbourhood of Alexandria, in the Kingdom of Egypt,[2] the eldest son of an Egyptian primary school teacher from Asyut. His year of birth has been disputed.[3] His website, alfayed.com,[4] used to claim he was born in 1933,[5] but the Department of Trade found his date of birth was 27 January 1929.[3] The website changed his birthyear from "1933" to "1929" in 2011.[5] His brothers Ali and Salah have been his business colleagues.[6]
Fayed was married from 1954 to 1956 to Samira Khashoggi. He worked with his brother-in-law, Saudi Arabian arms dealer and businessman Adnan Khashoggi.[7]
In 1985, Fayed married the Finnish socialite and former model Heini Wathén, with whom he had four children: daughters Jasmine[8] (born 1980) and Camilla[9] (born 1985), and sons Karim[10] (born 1983) and Omar[11] (born 1987).
Sometime in the early 1970s, he began using the definitive article al- (Arabic: ال) in his name, rendering his name in English as "Al-Fayed" rather than simply "Fayed".[7] This aristocratic prefix[7] led to Private Eye magazine nicknaming him the "Phoney Pharaoh".[12] His brothers Ali and Salah followed suit at the time of their acquisition of the House of Fraser in the 1980s, though by the late 1980s, both had backtracked on the practice.[13]
Al-Fayed's business interests included:
His major business purchases included:
Sexual harassment allegations[edit]
Al-Fayed was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault.[88][89] Young women applying for employment at Harrods were often submitted to HIV tests and gynaecological examinations.[90] They were then selected to spend the weekend with Al-Fayed in Paris.[90] In her profile of Al-Fayed for Vanity Fair, Maureen Orth described how, according to former employees, "Fayed regularly walked the store on the lookout for young, attractive women to work in his office. Those who rebuffed him would often be subjected to crude, humiliating comments about their appearance or dress... A dozen ex-employees I spoke with said that Fayed would chase secretaries around the office and sometimes try to stuff money down women's blouses".[91]
In December 1997, the ITV current affairs programme The Big Story broadcast testimonies from a number of former Harrods employees who spoke of how Al-Fayed routinely sexually harassed women in similar ways.[89] Al-Fayed was interviewed under caution by the Metropolitan Police after an allegation of sexual assault against a 15-year-old schoolgirl in October 2008. The case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service when they found there was no realistic chance of conviction due to conflicting statements.[92]
A December 2017 episode of Channel 4's Dispatches programme alleged that Al-Fayed sexually harassed three female Harrods employees, and attempted to "groom" them. One of the employees was aged 17 at the time. Cheska Hill-Wood waived her right to anonymity to be interviewed for the programme.[93] The programme alleged Al-Fayed targeted young employees over a 13-year period.[94]
Death[edit]
Al-Fayed died in London on 30 August 2023, at the age of 94.[95][96][97] His cause of death was listed as old age and was announced on 1 September. He was buried that day at Barrow Green Court alongside Dodi,[98] after a funeral service during Friday prayers at London Central Mosque.[99]