This is a very rosey interpretation of Al-Fayed and glosses over vast swathes of fraud and misrepresentation. A more balanced view can be gained from the Guardian, itself no fan of the British establishment: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/mohamed-al-fay...
You don't make 2 billion dollars just by doing honest work for 94 years.
If the average man's labor is worth $15/hr, and he never spent (nor was taxed) a dime of that, Al-Fayed was either more than 700 times smarter, faster, stronger, and harder-working than the average man... or he acquired that wealth by doing something other than hard work.
The Guardian is absolutely a British establishment newspaper. You can simply observe how they reported during the lead up to the Scottish independence referendum, or when Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour party.
As soon as there's any perceived threat to the British establishment they'll be running the same stories as The Telegraph.
The main lesson I got out of it that you need to marry a billionaire's sister.
Without the right connections, you get very few opportunities and even when you see a mediocre opportunity, you seize it as if it's your last.
But with the right connections, it seems like amazing opportunities just fall on your lap and whatever ones you choose will yield great results. Surely it's not difficult to succeed in such situation.
I struggle to believe the idea the British establishment had no clue what he was up to. He was in reality doing their dirty work and aggrandizing them in the process with his apparently endless desire to be accepted into their ranks.
For decades the rumour has been that he is bankrupt and just putting up a huge facade. (Comparisons to Maxwell). If such a hole exists it did not catch up to him in life, which is an achievement one way or another given the scrutiny he was supposedly under.
Of course they know, just like they know about dirty money from abroad propping up the economy, empty properties owned by rich foreign nationals pushing up house prices for UK residents etc. but there are several steps between that and doing something about it:
1) They have to know (they probably do)
2) They have to care
3) They have to know what to do about it
4) They have to accept the potential disadvantages of taking action
5) They have to decide it is more important than everything else they have on their plate
6) They need to actually do something about it
7) They have to succeed in the Court case, Tax investigation etc.
8) Eventually, worse-case, the wealthy criminal just dusts themselves off and finds something else to do
I'm sure that's why most Politicians just talk about stuff. It's too hard to actually do things.
All of these articles discuss his desire for citizenship, and being refused.
I've yet to read one that explains what a person of his standing would gain from British citizenship in practical terms, surely he was wealthy enough to permanently reside wherever he wanted.
More than a document allowing him to reside somewhere, it was a status symbol to him, and something he thought important for his family moving forward. Think of the fictional Barry Lyndon in his quest for himself (and sons) to become part of the English Aristocracy.
Things are not always rational in life, particularly with strong characters like him. He was probably influenced by the last remains of colonial Britain, getting his formative break under English-educated Kashoggi.
> In 1964 Fayed arrived in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations, hailed as a rich sheikh from Kuwait. He romanced one of Papa Doc’s daughters and persuaded Duvalier to give him an oil concession and a contract to manage the Port-au-Prince harbour. The Duvaliers’ love affair with Fayed was short-lived. Early in 1965 the fake sheikh left Haiti, never to return. More than $100,000 (almost $1m today) was reportedly found to be missing from the port authority’s bank account.
I think portraying him as having "built his empire from the ground up" is misguided at best and very dishonest at worst.
People are of course complicated, but Fayed seems, uh, more complicated than most [1]:
> In 1964 Fayed arrived in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations, hailed as a rich sheikh from Kuwait. He romanced one of Papa Doc’s daughters and persuaded Duvalier to give him an oil concession and a contract to manage the Port-au-Prince harbour. The Duvaliers’ love affair with Fayed was short-lived. Early in 1965 the fake sheikh left Haiti, never to return. More than $100,000 (almost $1m today) was reportedly found to be missing from the port authority’s bank account.
> A dangerous opponent, [Fayed] would make the wildest allegations in public as well as private against enemies or those he blamed for setbacks. He fabricated documents and paid witnesses to perjure themselves. It was often difficult to detect whether Fayed himself believed the allegations he repeated with such conviction.
> There were repeated allegations of sexual harassment of female staff. Some who complained were accused of theft and on occasions arrested by local police only too willing to accept allegations (later dropped) from a powerful patron. In 2009 the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge Fayed over the claim he had sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at the store. Fayed had been interviewed by Scotland Yard under caution. He was interviewed again in 2013 after a woman alleged he had sexually attacked her at his Park Lane apartment after a job interview. The police reopened the case in 2015 but took no further action. Fayed always denied the allegations. Further sexual harassment allegations were made by former Harrods employees in a Channel 4 documentary in 2017 and to Channel 4 News in 2018. One ex-employee claimed to have accepted £60,000 to drop a sexual harassment claim. Fayed again denied the allegations and the police took no action.
I guess you could also claim that the British press has had and continues to have it out for him, so these are just skewed portrayals of a bon vivant, or something. But from the uninformed outside he certainly looks like a guy who made his money as a fixer/corruption specialist (like the people who built industrial empires after the collapse of the USSR -- they certainly won a hard game, but it's difficult to say they did something good) and mostly used it to make life unpleasant for people around him.
(I don't mean to pile on to what runnerup already (and correctly) posted, but I also want to make sure you see this, so I'm posting it as a reply to your most recent comment.)
Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.
[+] [-] thehm|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LeifCarrotson|2 years ago|reply
If the average man's labor is worth $15/hr, and he never spent (nor was taxed) a dime of that, Al-Fayed was either more than 700 times smarter, faster, stronger, and harder-working than the average man... or he acquired that wealth by doing something other than hard work.
[+] [-] waihtis|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] olddustytrail|2 years ago|reply
As soon as there's any perceived threat to the British establishment they'll be running the same stories as The Telegraph.
[+] [-] jongjong|2 years ago|reply
Without the right connections, you get very few opportunities and even when you see a mediocre opportunity, you seize it as if it's your last.
But with the right connections, it seems like amazing opportunities just fall on your lap and whatever ones you choose will yield great results. Surely it's not difficult to succeed in such situation.
[+] [-] cjrp|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] flunkydunka|2 years ago|reply
The Poor Fulham fans, there was much hilarity had by everyone else.
[+] [-] moralestapia|2 years ago|reply
Also the aunt of that journalist, in case you're wondering.
[+] [-] mortureb|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] fidotron|2 years ago|reply
For decades the rumour has been that he is bankrupt and just putting up a huge facade. (Comparisons to Maxwell). If such a hole exists it did not catch up to him in life, which is an achievement one way or another given the scrutiny he was supposedly under.
[+] [-] lbriner|2 years ago|reply
1) They have to know (they probably do)
2) They have to care
3) They have to know what to do about it
4) They have to accept the potential disadvantages of taking action
5) They have to decide it is more important than everything else they have on their plate
6) They need to actually do something about it
7) They have to succeed in the Court case, Tax investigation etc.
8) Eventually, worse-case, the wealthy criminal just dusts themselves off and finds something else to do
I'm sure that's why most Politicians just talk about stuff. It's too hard to actually do things.
[+] [-] avar|2 years ago|reply
I've yet to read one that explains what a person of his standing would gain from British citizenship in practical terms, surely he was wealthy enough to permanently reside wherever he wanted.
[+] [-] dfxm12|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toyg|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 4rt|2 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bYjGHRX9dE
[+] [-] waihtis|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] wtfwhateven|2 years ago|reply
I think portraying him as having "built his empire from the ground up" is misguided at best and very dishonest at worst.
[+] [-] runnerup|2 years ago|reply
Please spend some time reading the HN commenting guidelines - there are a few about divisive topics and flamebait which are relevant to this comment.
[+] [-] louthy|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GEBBL|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mycologos|2 years ago|reply
> In 1964 Fayed arrived in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest nations, hailed as a rich sheikh from Kuwait. He romanced one of Papa Doc’s daughters and persuaded Duvalier to give him an oil concession and a contract to manage the Port-au-Prince harbour. The Duvaliers’ love affair with Fayed was short-lived. Early in 1965 the fake sheikh left Haiti, never to return. More than $100,000 (almost $1m today) was reportedly found to be missing from the port authority’s bank account.
> A dangerous opponent, [Fayed] would make the wildest allegations in public as well as private against enemies or those he blamed for setbacks. He fabricated documents and paid witnesses to perjure themselves. It was often difficult to detect whether Fayed himself believed the allegations he repeated with such conviction.
> There were repeated allegations of sexual harassment of female staff. Some who complained were accused of theft and on occasions arrested by local police only too willing to accept allegations (later dropped) from a powerful patron. In 2009 the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge Fayed over the claim he had sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at the store. Fayed had been interviewed by Scotland Yard under caution. He was interviewed again in 2013 after a woman alleged he had sexually attacked her at his Park Lane apartment after a job interview. The police reopened the case in 2015 but took no further action. Fayed always denied the allegations. Further sexual harassment allegations were made by former Harrods employees in a Channel 4 documentary in 2017 and to Channel 4 News in 2018. One ex-employee claimed to have accepted £60,000 to drop a sexual harassment claim. Fayed again denied the allegations and the police took no action.
I guess you could also claim that the British press has had and continues to have it out for him, so these are just skewed portrayals of a bon vivant, or something. But from the uninformed outside he certainly looks like a guy who made his money as a fixer/corruption specialist (like the people who built industrial empires after the collapse of the USSR -- they certainly won a hard game, but it's difficult to say they did something good) and mostly used it to make life unpleasant for people around him.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/mohamed-al-fay...
[+] [-] mavu|2 years ago|reply
Most of us begin as babies.
[+] [-] dang|2 years ago|reply
Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for.
If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
[+] [-] runnerup|2 years ago|reply
> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html