Mohamed Al-Fayed is a world-renowned businessman and philanthropist, heading up the AlFayed Foundation, the Fulham football club and, until last year, owning one of the world’s largest department stores for 25 years, Harrods. Al-Fayed has recently stepped down from his ownership of many ventures and decided to spend more time with his family at 81 years old.

Al-Fayed is one of the most successful businessmen to have ever come out of Egypt. He was born there in Alexandria in 1929 and lived in Egypt as a child with his family including two brothers, Ali Fayed and Salah Fayed.

Mohamed was born the oldest son of an Egyptian school teacher, and it didn’t take him long before finding the entrepreneurial spirit. While still in primary school, Al-Fayed started selling homemade lemonade to the other children. He began to show a knack for controlling money and making the right moves. This served him well after finishing school.

In the early 1950s, Mohamed was trying to break into the business lifestyle by starting a company. Not knowing exactly what to do, he contracted the help of his brothers and eventually started a small shipping company in Egypt. With Al-Fayed at the helm, this small company quickly grew into a formidable shipping company and the headquarters needed to move.

From Egypt, Al-Fayed and his brothers moved their shipping company to Genoa, Italy where they would have more of a world presence and more room to operate with fewer restrictions. The success of the shipping company was huge, allowing the brothers to also branch out to other countries around the globe, including a spot in the UK where they opened London offices.

Al-Fayed had developed a reputation for spinning gold when it came to crucial business decisions, PR campaigns, security and other aspects of business. He was also a strong salesman, able to employ foresight in the business process and predict various trends. It was the culmination of his talents that got the attention of Sheikh Rashid Al Makhtoum.

Sheikh Rashid was the ruler of Dubai in the 1960s, and he wanted to transform this water-front oil-rich desert property into something glamorous that tourists would frequent and that would have a stand-alone presence in the Middle East. Sheikh Rashid gave the duty to Al-Fayed to breathe new life into Dubai.

After introducing global companies to Dubai, the transformation was underway. Al-Fayed brought in British influences like the Costain Group and Taylor Woodrow. Together, Al-Fayed worked with various companies as massive construction projects began that would forever transform Dubai.

After helping to basically create the Dubai we know today, Al-Fayed was a globally recognized businessman whose financial advice was sought after by many, including the Sultan of Brunei Omar Ali Saifuddien III. By the 1970s, Al-Fayed has amassed a huge fortune and had earned the respect of the global business community.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Al-Fayed backed out of the building and started buying. He purchased Harrods, Fulham FC, the Ritz Hotel Paris, a lavish castle in Scotland, and much more. The elderly Al-Fayed is currently married to Heini Wathen and keeps to himself out of the public eye.