Mohammed Al-Fayed

Mohamed Al-Fayed, the outspoken Egyptian tycoon who transformed the fortunes of two London institutions, the Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club, and waged a war of words with Britain’s royals after his son was killed in a car crash alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 94. Flamboyant Egyptian businessman, father of Dodi Al Fayed who died in a car crash along with Princess Diana in Paris in August 1997. A natural born salesman, began flogging homemade lemonade to his classmates during recess; said to have sold Pepsi in market stalls, worked as a sewing machine salesman. Became an associate of businessman and weapons dealer Adnan Khashoggi, whose sister he eventually married. Became a British resident in 1974. Acquired House of Fraser group in mid 1980s, including the venerable Harrod's department store, which he revitalized and refurbished. Sold it to Qatar Holding for a reported $2.4 billion in May 2010; now honorary chairman. Owner of the Hôtel Ritz in Paris, the Fulham football club, and a castle in Scotland. Anglophile was. never granted British citizenship. In 2021 his net worth was estimated at $1.8 billion, according to Forbes. His businesses interests included Punch Magazine, Kurt Geiger, Manhattan skyscraper 75 Rockefeller Plaza, and the Hyde Park Residence block of luxury apartments in London, Al-Fayed had six children, including Dodi and the environmentalist entrepreneur Omar Fayed.