Roland Walter "Tiny" Rowland (; 27 November 1917 – 25 July 1998) was a British businessman,

corporate raid In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...

er and the chief executive of the

Lonrho Lonrho is a London-based conglomerate that was established in 1998 as Lonrho Africa plc. It is engaged in multiple business sectors in Africa, mainly agribusiness, infrastructure, transport, hospitality and support services. History Lonrho ...

conglomerate from 1962 to 1993. He gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in particular his attempt to take control of

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

. He was known for his complex business interests in Africa and his closeness to a number of African leaders.

Early life

He was born Roland Walter Fuhrhop on 27 November 1917 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in a British

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

for aliens outside

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India. His mother was Anglo-Dutch and his father, Wilhelm Fuhrhop, was a German export-import trader in Calcutta. Having been born in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, he acquired automatic British citizenship by the custom of ''

jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

''. However, his parents remained "

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

s" for the duration of the First World War, and after the war, the Fuhrhops were refused entry into the United Kingdom. They settled in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. He was said to have been nicknamed "Tiny" by his nanny because he was a large child. In the 1930s, he was briefly involved with the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, but his father was firmly opposed to Hitler and would move his family to Britain in 1937 to escape

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He was sent to England, where he attended

Churcher's College Churcher's College is an independent, fee-charging day school for girls and boys, founded in 1722. The Senior School (ages 11–18) is in the market town of Petersfield, Hampshire with the Junior School and Nursery (ages 2 years, 9 months–11) ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and acquired an upper-class British accent and mannerisms. His family settled in England in 1937. He then worked for his uncle's shipping business in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He took his uncle's surname, Rowland, shortly after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was conscripted into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, where he served with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

. As enemy aliens, his parents were interned on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, where his mother died. He himself was interned as an enemy alien after trying to arrange for the release of his father.

Lonrho

In 1948, Rowland moved to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

, where he subsequently managed a tobacco farm at

Eiffel Flats Eiffel Flats is a village in the province of Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is located about 7 km east of Kadoma. History The village began in 1905 as a residential township for the Cam and Motor gold mine, operated by Rio Tinto Group, now R ...

Mashonaland West Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.5 million (2012). Chinhoyi is the capital of the province. Districts Mashonaland West is divided into 7 districts: * Chegutu ...

province. From 1952 to 1963, he lived with Irene Smith, the wife of a business partner. Rowland was recruited to the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company, later

, as chief executive in 1962. Under his leadership, the firm expanded beyond mining and became a conglomerate, dealing in newspapers, hotels, distribution, textiles and many other lines of business. During 1973, Rowland's position was the subject of a High Court case in which eight Lonrho directors sought Rowland's dismissal, due to both his temperament and to claims he had concealed financial information from the board. Rowland failed in his legal attempt to block the move but was subsequently backed by shareholders and retained his position. British Prime Minister

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

, referring to the case, criticised the company in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

and described events there as "the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism". In 1983, Rowland took over ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' newspaper and became its chairman. He also campaigned to gain control of

department store in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, but he was defeated by Egyptian-born Mohamed Al-Fayed. A December 1993 ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' article revealed that Hemar Enterprises, makers of documentary film ''

The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie ''The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie'' is a documentary film about the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Produced, written, and directed by Allan Francovich and financed by Tiny Rowland, the film was released by Hemar Enterprises in Novemb ...

'', was owned by Metropole Hotels, controlled by Rowland. The film stated that Libya had no responsibility for the bombing of

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

. Shortly after the indictment of Libya in the Pan Am Flight 103 incident, Rowland sold a percentage of his interests to the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (Lafico), controlled by the

government of Libya The politics of Libya has been in an uncertain state since the collapse of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 2011 and a recent civil war and various jihadists and tribal elements controlling parts of the country. On 10 March 2021, a national unity ...

. For this reason, Susan and Daniel Cohen, parents of Pan Am Flight 103 victim Theodora Cohen, claimed that Libya had backed the film. In a boardroom coup engineered by German tycoon

Dieter Bock Dieter Bock (3 March 1939 – 12 May 2010) was a German lawyer and tax consultant turned businessman. At the time of his death he was one of the wealthiest Germans, with a fortune of £500 million. Bock was the son of a director of the AGF ...

in October 1993, Rowland was forced to step down as chairman of Lonrho. He was succeeded by former diplomat Sir John Leahy. In March 1995, he was dismissed by the board. The Cohens' conjecture regarding Rowland's association with

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

, the leader of Libya, and the film ''

'' contributed to the decision to dismiss Rowland. In 1996, President

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

awarded Rowland the

Order of Good Hope The Order of Good Hope or Order of the Cape of Good Hope is a dormant order of merit of the Republic of South Africa. History The Order of Good Hope was founded in 1973, by the republican government of South Africa, to grant those who had disti ...

, the highest South African honour. Rowland died from cancer in London on 25 July 1998.

Personal life

Rowland met Josie Taylor in 1965 and married her in 1968. They remained married until Rowland’s death in 1998. They had 4 children, including Toby Rowland, who would eventually co-create

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in 2003. Toby married

Plum Sykes Victoria Rowland (née Sykes; born 4 December 1969), known both professionally and socially as Plum Sykes, is an English-born fashion journalist, novelist, and socialite. Early years and antecedents Victoria Sykes was born in London, one of ...

in 2005, making her Tiny's daughter in law.

In popular culture

Rowland is prominently featured in the second part of the documentary ''

The Mayfair Set ''The Mayfair Set'', subtitled ''Four Stories about the Rise of Business and the Decline of Political Power'', is a BBC television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It explores the decline of Britain as a world power, the proliferatio ...

'' by

Adam Curtis Adam Curtis (born 26 May 1955) is an English documentary filmmaker. Curtis began his career as a conventional documentary producer for the BBC throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The release of ''Pandora's Box (British TV series), ...

, where he is profiled as a ruthless businessman, jetting through Africa to take over British companies in former colonies. He was also said to have served as the model for the fictitious ruthless British businessman Sir Edward Matheson played by Stewart Granger in the 1978 film ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambit ...

''. The satirical magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' frequently referred to him as "tiny but perfect", not because of any shortness in stature, but because he was always impeccably groomed. In Australia, a champion racehorse, Lonhro, was named after him (with an intentional misspelling). As a foal, the horse was described as "tiny but perfect".

Bibliography

Tom Bower Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...

: ''Tiny Rowland. A Rebel Tycoon''. London, Heinemann, 1993. * Richard Hall: ''My life with Tiny. A biography of Tiny Rowland''. London, Faber & Faber, 1987.

References

External links

The business of peace: 'Tiny' Rowland, financial incentives and the Mozambican settlement
on Rowland's role in bringing an end to the civil war in Mozambique. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Tiny 1917 births 1998 deaths Deaths from cancer in England British emigrants to Rhodesia British emigrants to Germany British people in colonial India British people of German descent People educated at Churcher's College People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II The Observer people British people of Dutch descent British mass media owners Hitler Youth members British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers