Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir (Arabic: محمد مهدي التاجر) (born 26 December 1931) is a Bahraini-Emirati businessman based in the United Kingdom. He was the first United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Kingdom and non resident ambassador to France.[1] Al Tajir spends much of his time at his London home or at Keir House, his 18,000-acre (73 km2) Perthshire estate. He has interests in finance and property, and owns the Highland Spring bottled water company.[2]
Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir was born in December 1931[3] in Bahrain, and educated at Preston Grammar School in Lancashire.[4] Al Tajir is married with five children.[5]
In the 1980s, he attempted to broker a peace deal in the Lebanese Civil War with his business partner Hani Salaam.[4]
Al Tajir has an extensive collection of silver artifacts and carpets.[8] In 1993 Al Tajir paid the record price for a piece of silver at auction, when he bought a 1736 silver chandelier made by Balthasar Friedrich Behrens for £2.27 million at Christie's in Monaco.[9]
Al Tajir formed a joint venture with Bonhams fine art auction house to open an office in Dubai.[4]
Al Tajir's son, Maher al-Tajir, was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend at Keir House in 2009.[10]
Business career
Appointed head of customs in Dubai by SheikhRashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, he became one of Sheikh Rashid's most trusted advisors and was made the first Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United Kingdom when the UAE was founded in 1971.[4] Under a thinly disguised name, Al Tajir's exploits as a negotiator were recorded in the 1976 novel Dubai by Robin Moore.[4]
In 1963, Al Tajir became director of Sheikh Rashid's Petroleum affairs and effectively the most powerful man in Dubai after Sheikh Rashid himself. Al Tajir lost or resigned his position in 1981 with the downfall of Sheikh Rashid's health and the waning of his personal power, with the ascedency of Shekih Rashid's sons. Al Tajir remained UAE ambassador to the United Kingdom until 1987.[11]
In London in the late 1960s, the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed was introduced to Al Tajir by Salim Abu Alwan, an Iraqi businessman.[12][13] Al Tajir informed Al-Fayed that Dubai was penniless and needed to borrow £1 million for the future construction of modern harbour facilities.[14]
Al-Fayed secured a loan of £9 million from Imre Rochlitz, an American lawyer. Rochlitz's Jewish ancestry caused embarrassment to Al Tajir, and later caused Rochlitz to reject Al-Fayed's offer of a formal partnership.[15] Al-Fayed earned £1.5 million commission from the contract for British engineering company Costain to carry out the improvement works to the port. Al-Fayed also assisted with securing the financing for the Dubai World Trade Centre.[16]
By the mid 1970s Costain had gained over £280 million of contracts thanks to Al-Fayed and Al Tajir.[17] Al Tajir's influence in Dubai was waning by 1977, and Al-Fayed was excluded from the commission process for a new aluminium smelter, and the development of Jebel Ali, putting Costain's future profits at risk.[18] In 1993 Al-Fayed was visited at his department store Harrods by Mohammed Alabbar, the director of Dubai's Department of Economic Development.[19] Alabbar had been appointed by Sheikh Maktoum to eradicate the system of large commission payments from previous decades. Al Tajir was challenged in the British courts to repay his alleged excessive profits earned from the construction of Dubai's aluminium smelter, and Al-Fayed was targeted over his management contract of the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The construction of Dubai's aluminium smelter caused Al Tajir to fall out with Sheikh Rashid's sons.[4] In the judgement of a British court case, Al Tajir conspired to defraud Dubai Aluminium of millions of US dollars in connivance with commodities trader Marc Rich, who owned a neighbouring property in Switzerland.[4]
Al Tajir owns a glass-bottling company in Dubai and a private bank in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.[4]
References
^"Rich List - Mahdi Al-Tajir". Arabian Business. 29 November 2007.
^ ab"Sunday Times Rich List 2010: Britain's richest see wealth rise by one third". The Daily Telegraph. 24 April 2010.
^. beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
^ abcdefghi. CNBC. June 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-09-24.
^"The World's Billionaires - #1062 Mahdi Al Tajir". Forbes. 2008.
^. New Statesman. 13 December 1999. Archived from the original on 2011-01-11.
^. TIME. 1976-08-02. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
^The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, Christie's, 1989, ISBN0903432366
^Alberge, Dalya (7 December 1993). "Prints fraud led by grandmother". The Independent. London.
^"arab-businessman-ordered-to-pay-500-to-girlfriend-over-assault". The Daily Record. Scotland. 27 October 2009.
^"Judgement - Dubai Aluminium v. Salaam". www.ucc.ie. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
^Bower, Tom (1998). Fayed: The Unauthorized Biography. Macmillan. p. 43. ISBN978-0-333-74554-0.
mahdi, tajir, mohammed, arabic, محمد, مهدي, التاجر, born, december, 1931, bahraini, emirati, businessman, based, united, kingdom, first, united, arab, emirates, ambassador, united, kingdom, resident, ambassador, france, tajir, spends, much, time, london, home,. Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir Arabic محمد مهدي التاجر born 26 December 1931 is a Bahraini Emirati businessman based in the United Kingdom He was the first United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Kingdom and non resident ambassador to France 1 Al Tajir spends much of his time at his London home or at Keir House his 18 000 acre 73 km2 Perthshire estate He has interests in finance and property and owns the Highland Spring bottled water company 2 Mohammed Mahdi Al TajirUnited Arab Emirates Ambassador to United KingdomIn office 1971 1987PresidentZayed bin Sultan Al NahyanPreceded byposition establishedUnited Arab Emirates Ambassador to FranceIn office 1971 1980PresidentZayed bin Sultan Al NahyanPreceded byposition establishedSucceeded byKhalifa Al MubarakPersonal detailsBorn 1931 12 26 December 26 1931 age 91 BahrainNationalityEmiratiChildren6Residence s London Keir House ScotlandEducationPreston Grammar SchoolAl Tajir was named one of Scotland s richest men with wealth of 1 72 billion in the Sunday Times Rich List 2010 2 Contents 1 Life 2 Business career 3 References 4 External linksLife Edit Keir House Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir was born in December 1931 3 in Bahrain and educated at Preston Grammar School in Lancashire 4 Al Tajir is married with five children 5 Al Tajir s 15 000 acre Blackwood estate in Perthshire Scotland is owned by his company Park Tower Holding Establishment based in the tax haven of Liechtenstein 6 Al Tajir also owns London s Sheraton Park Tower Hotel at 101 Knightsbridge near Hyde Park 4 and Mereworth Castle in Kent which he purchased in 1976 for 1 2 million 7 In the 1980s he attempted to broker a peace deal in the Lebanese Civil War with his business partner Hani Salaam 4 Al Tajir has an extensive collection of silver artifacts and carpets 8 In 1993 Al Tajir paid the record price for a piece of silver at auction when he bought a 1736 silver chandelier made by Balthasar Friedrich Behrens for 2 27 million at Christie s in Monaco 9 Al Tajir formed a joint venture with Bonhams fine art auction house to open an office in Dubai 4 Al Tajir s son Maher al Tajir was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend at Keir House in 2009 10 Business career EditAppointed head of customs in Dubai by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum he became one of Sheikh Rashid s most trusted advisors and was made the first Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United Kingdom when the UAE was founded in 1971 4 Under a thinly disguised name Al Tajir s exploits as a negotiator were recorded in the 1976 novel Dubai by Robin Moore 4 In 1963 Al Tajir became director of Sheikh Rashid s Petroleum affairs and effectively the most powerful man in Dubai after Sheikh Rashid himself Al Tajir lost or resigned his position in 1981 with the downfall of Sheikh Rashid s health and the waning of his personal power with the ascedency of Shekih Rashid s sons Al Tajir remained UAE ambassador to the United Kingdom until 1987 11 In London in the late 1960s the Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed was introduced to Al Tajir by Salim Abu Alwan an Iraqi businessman 12 13 Al Tajir informed Al Fayed that Dubai was penniless and needed to borrow 1 million for the future construction of modern harbour facilities 14 Al Fayed secured a loan of 9 million from Imre Rochlitz an American lawyer Rochlitz s Jewish ancestry caused embarrassment to Al Tajir and later caused Rochlitz to reject Al Fayed s offer of a formal partnership 15 Al Fayed earned 1 5 million commission from the contract for British engineering company Costain to carry out the improvement works to the port Al Fayed also assisted with securing the financing for the Dubai World Trade Centre 16 By the mid 1970s Costain had gained over 280 million of contracts thanks to Al Fayed and Al Tajir 17 Al Tajir s influence in Dubai was waning by 1977 and Al Fayed was excluded from the commission process for a new aluminium smelter and the development of Jebel Ali putting Costain s future profits at risk 18 In 1993 Al Fayed was visited at his department store Harrods by Mohammed Alabbar the director of Dubai s Department of Economic Development 19 Alabbar had been appointed by Sheikh Maktoum to eradicate the system of large commission payments from previous decades Al Tajir was challenged in the British courts to repay his alleged excessive profits earned from the construction of Dubai s aluminium smelter and Al Fayed was targeted over his management contract of the Dubai World Trade Centre The construction of Dubai s aluminium smelter caused Al Tajir to fall out with Sheikh Rashid s sons 4 In the judgement of a British court case Al Tajir conspired to defraud Dubai Aluminium of millions of US dollars in connivance with commodities trader Marc Rich who owned a neighbouring property in Switzerland 4 Al Tajir owns a glass bottling company in Dubai and a private bank in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands 4 References Edit Rich List Mahdi Al Tajir Arabian Business 29 November 2007 a b Sunday Times Rich List 2010 Britain s richest see wealth rise by one third The Daily Telegraph 24 April 2010 Mohammed Mahdi AL TAJIR Personal Appointments free information from Companies House beta companieshouse gov uk Archived from the original on 2018 06 12 Retrieved 2018 06 11 a b c d e f g h i The World s Richest Arabs CNBC June 2007 Archived from the original on 2011 09 24 The World s Billionaires 1062 Mahdi Al Tajir Forbes 2008 Who are the lairds lording over us New Statesman 13 December 1999 Archived from the original on 2011 01 11 BRITAIN Dinner for 370 000 Please James TIME 1976 08 02 Archived from the original on October 24 2012 Retrieved 2012 02 16 The Glory of the Goldsmith Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al Tajir Collection Christie s 1989 ISBN 0903432366 Alberge Dalya 7 December 1993 Prints fraud led by grandmother The Independent London arab businessman ordered to pay 500 to girlfriend over assault The Daily Record Scotland 27 October 2009 Judgement Dubai Aluminium v Salaam www ucc ie Retrieved 2021 07 13 Bower Tom 1998 Fayed The Unauthorized Biography Macmillan p 43 ISBN 978 0 333 74554 0 Bower 1998 p 27 Bower 1998 p 31 Bower 1998 p 33 Bower 1998 p 36 Bower 1998 p 50 Bower 1998 p 71 Bower 1998 p 302 External links EditThe Al Tajir trust Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mahdi Al Tajir amp oldid 1122651012, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
