Mohamed Al-Fayed was born on January 27^th 1929 in Bakos, Alexandria, Egypt, the eldest son of a poor school teacher. But even in his early days in Alexandria, Al-Fayed knew he wanted to aspire to greater things. His first business venture as a youth was selling cans of drink on the streets of his home city and then moving on to selling sewing machines.

With all this pent up ambition it was a major coo to Al Fayed when he was introduced to the millionaire businessman Adnan Khashoggi who later employed him in his Saudi Arabian import business. Finally, Al Fayed had rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous. Eventually he married the sister of Khashoggi. 

With his new found business experience Al-Fayed went on to launch his own shipping business in Egypt and in 1966 became a financial advisor for the Sultan of Brunei. By this time Al-Fayed had become a rich and successful businessman in his own right and moved to England in the 1970’s where he served on the board of directors for Lonrho in 1975. After a dispute with the company he resigned after just nine months. 

Always feeling the need to better himself and to be accepted in the upper echelons of society, he and his brother began purchasing businesses and properties around the world that would give them recognition. They began with the Ritz Hotel in Paris, then moving on to target the famous English department store Harrods. The store is a recognized part of British opulence but in recent years has lost its warrents from the Royal Family due to Al-Fayed’s disputes over the truth relating to his son’s death. In a controversial campaign to gain the store Al-Fayed went head to head with his former employer, Tiny Rowlands of Lonroh but eventually sealed the deal with a 615 million pound take over.