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Mohammed Al-Fayed

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (January 27, 1929-August 30, 2023)
    Born in Alexandria, Egypt
    Owner of Harrods department store in London
    Owner of the Paris Ritz hotel
    Owner of British soccer club Fulham
    Father of late Dodi Al-Fayed (killed in car crash with Princess Diana Spencer

Why he might be annoying:

    He describes himself as 'an Egyptian from a modest background' when in fact he made his fortune through dealings with his brother-in-law Adnan Khashoggi, an arms dealer; 'Papa Doc' Duvalier, the Haitian dictator; and The Sultan of Brunei.
    His Harrods store was found guilty of racism for refusing to employ a black woman because she was 'unclean' and had 'unpolished speech (1997).'
    He sued Vanity Fair over remarks they made about how he treats his staff, but lost.
    He blames the bad press he gets on the fact that most of the British newspapers are under the influence of MI6, a British intelligence agency.
    He tried to sue three alleged CIA agents for damages related to the death of his son, Dodi. He also lost a similar claim for damages against the French state (July 1999).
    He pursued the perceived 'wrongdoing' of his son's death in the Parisian courts.
    He believed that the British secret service killed his son along with Princess Diana and still wants a British public inquiry.
    He was involved in the 'Cash for Questions' scandal, paying British MP Neil Hamilton to submit parliamentary questions on his behalf (1985-1989).
    He exposed Hamilton in a TV documentary (1997); Hamilton sued for libel and lost everything (1999-2000).
    He regularly applied for British citizenship even though he criticized the British Royal family at every opportunity.
    He had his own website to put his views across on anything and everything.
    He bragged about his charitable giving on his website.
    He submitted the 'Thoughts of Chairman Mo' column to Punch magazine, which he owned.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He had a long running feud with industrialist Tiny Rowland.
    He gave considerable amounts of money to charity.
    He spent lots of money on Fulham soccer club to get them back to the top soccer league in Britain.
    He keeps lots of people employed thanks to his continuous litigation.
    He tried to get hold of CIA and FBI files on his son for years, without success, under the US Freedom of Information Act.
    He described Britain's Prince Philip as 'a Nazi sympathizer.'

Credit: Fantom


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 94 Votes: 62.77% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 94.12% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 35 Votes: 48.57% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 35 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 28 Votes: 60.71% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 74 Votes: 66.22% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 21 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 33 Votes: 78.79% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 48 Votes: 64.58% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 294 Votes: 51.36% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 184 Votes: 78.26% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 87 Votes: 74.71% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 617 Votes: 76.18% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 283 Votes: 68.90% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 503 Votes: 70.58% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 1393 Votes: 69.99% Annoying
    In 2002, Out of 6694 Votes: 79.07% Annoying