Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of the department store Harrods and an Egyptian businessman, died on Friday (September 1) at the age of 94, according to his family in a statement. The billionaire businessman breathed his last 26 years after his eldest son, Dodi Fayed, and Princess Diana were killed in a vehicle accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.
“Mrs. Mohamed Al-Fayed, her children, and grandchildren wish to confirm that her beloved husband, their father, and their grandfather, Mohamed, has passed away peacefully of old age on Wednesday, August 30, 2023,” said his family in a statement that was released by the football club Fulham FC, which he once owned.
“He enjoyed a long and fulfilled retirement surrounded by his loved ones. The family has asked for their privacy to be respected at this time,” the statement further read.
“On behalf of everyone at Fulham Football Club, I send my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mohamed Al Fayed upon the news of his passing at age 94,” stated Shahid Khan, who succeeded al-Fayed as owner of the London soccer club.
Mohamed Al Fayed: From Paris Ritz Hotel to Fulham Football Club
Al Fayed was born in Alexandria to a schoolteacher. He founded his own shipping company in his home country before becoming an adviser to one of the world’s richest men, the Sultan of Brunei, in 1966. He moved to the UK in the 1970s and joined the board of the mining group Lonrho in 1975. However, he did leave the board nine months later. Al Fayed and his brother Ali purchased the Paris Ritz Hotel in 1979.
The Al Fayeds’ next aim was Harrods, which they were able to acquire in 1985 with a deal costing £615 million ($774 million) in Knightsbridge. He held ownership of the store after the Frasers business went public in 2010, when he sold it to Qatar Holding. The billionaire also resurrected the satirical magazine Punch.
In 1997, the billionaire paid £6.25 million ($7.87 million) for Fulham football club in west London and invited famed singer Michael Jackson to a game at Craven Cottage. (spinabifida.net) Al Fayed recommended club manager Kevin Keegan for the role of England national team manager in 1999. In 2013, Al Fayed sold the club to billionaire businessman Shahid Khan.
