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Nearly every African billionaire has recently witnessed a significant decline in their fortune due to recent valuation concerns, including Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has lived in the UK since the mid-1960s and owns both privately held and publicly traded companies.
According to research conducted by Billionaires.Africa, Al Fayed, whose investments in London’s retail and hospitality sectors account for the majority of his wealth, has seen his net worth fall by $200 million over the past 200 days, from $2.1 billion to $1.9 billion.
The Egyptian billionaire amassed a fortune in retail after selling his shares in the London department store Harrod’s to Qatar in a deal worth $2.4 billion in 2010.
Since then, he has poured a significant portion of the proceeds into real estate and hospitality assets and investments. Some of these assets include 75 Rockefeller Plaza and the storied Ritz Paris hotel, which he purchased for $30 million in 1979.
Al Fayed had a net worth of $2.1 billion at the end of business on April 28, exactly 200 days ago, making him not just one of Egypt’s richest businessmen, but also one of Africa’s richest billionaires.
The steady decline in the market value of his private assets and investments has wiped out $200 million from his net worth in the last 200 days, reducing his wealth to $1.9 billion at the time of writing.
Despite the recent decline in the value of his assets, which has impacted his wealth figures, Al Fayed is still $400-million richer than he was in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a temporary shutdown of hotels and other hospitality assets, affecting earnings from his hospitality investments and asset valuation.
Since 2020, his net worth has increased significantly, aided by a strong recovery of operations in the hospitality sector from the pandemic’s rock-bottom levels, as well as a surge in hotel occupancy rates throughout 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
Apart from the Ritz Paris and 75 Rockefeller Plaza, Al Fayed, also owns Balnagowan Castle & Estates in the Scottish Highlands, as well as British shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser.
