Akram Ojjeh ( ar, أَكْرَم عُجَّة, ʾAkram ʿUjjah; 21 April 1918 – 28 October 1991) was a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n-born Saudi businessman. Ojjeh was an intermediary in deals between Saudi Arabia and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, particularly arms sales. Ojjeh founded

Techniques d'Avant Garde TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. is a private holding company based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. The name 'TAG' is an acronym of Techniques d'Avant Garde. The company generates revenue through its various subsidiaries that offer products and services ...

, an investment company focused on advanced technologies.

Techniques d'Avant Garde, (TAG)

Ojjeh founded

, an investment company focused on advanced technologies. TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. generates revenue through its various subsidiaries that offer products and services in the business aviation, motorsports, hospitality, consumer products and real estate industries. TAG was formed in 1977 is currently led by Akram's son Mansour In 1985, TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. purchased Swiss watchmaker Heuer. TAG Group combined the TAG and Heuer brands to create the

TAG Heuer TAG Heuer S.A. ( ) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker that designs, manufactures and markets watches and fashion accessories, as well as eyewear and mobile phones manufactured under license by other companies and carrying the TAG Heuer brand name. Th ...

brand and also gave its newly acquired watchmaking subsidiary the combined TAG Heuer name. Under TAG Group's ownership, TAG Heuer modernised its product line and significantly increased worldwide sales.

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

purchased the TAG Heuer subsidiary in 1999 for US$740 million. TAG Group is now primarily a holding company for Ojjeh shareholdings in TAG Aviation and MTG.

Al-Yamamah arms deal

Ojjeh was involved in the marketing of the French

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (''Arm ...

fighter jet to Saudi Arabia in competition with the British

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

Adnan Khashoggi Adnan Khashoggi ( ar, عدنان خاشقجي, ‘Adnān Khāshuqjī; 25 July 1935 – 6 June 2017) was a Saudi businessman and arms dealer known for his lavish business deals and lifestyle. He was estimated to have had a peak net worth ...

said in 1994 that Ojjeh was persuaded by the British sales team to "drop his role as 'fixer' for the French."

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

went on to win what became the

Al-Yamamah arms deal Al Yamamah ( ar, اليمامة, translation=The Dove) is the name of a series of record arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, paid for by the delivery of up to of crude oil per day to the British government. The prime contracto ...

SS ''France'' liner

Akram Ojjeh purchased the ocean liner SS ''France'' in October 24, 1977, for 80 million francs. On June 25, 1979, he sold her to

Knut Kloster Knut Utstein Kloster (2 April 1929 – 20 September 2020) was a Norwegian shipping magnate. His grandfather Lauritz Kloster founded Kloster Rederi in 1924. In 1959 Kloster joined the family business and transformed it into a leading cruise line. ...

, the owner of

Norwegian Caribbean Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...

, for 77 million francs.

Personal life

Ojjeh is of

Damascene Damascene may refer to: * Topics directly associated with the city of Damascus in Syria: ** A native or inhabitant of Damascus ** Damascus Arabic, the local dialect of Damascus ** Damascus steel, developed for swordmaking ** "Damascene moment", the ...

origin. He married four times. He was first married to a French woman with whom he had five children, including Mansour and Aziz. He later married Nahed Tlass (born 1958), who is the daughter of former Syrian Defense Minister

Mustafa Tlass Mustafa Abdul Qadir Tlass ( ar, مُصْطَفَى عَبْد الْقَادِر طَلَاس, Musṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir Ṭalās; 11 May 1932 – 27 June 2017) was a Syrian senior military officer and politician who was Syria's minister of defe ...

Awards

In the 1970s, the French awarded Ojjeh with one of their highest state orders,

Commander of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

References