Wafic Rida Saïd () (born 21 December 1939) is a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

-Saudi-Canadian businessman, financier, and philanthropist who has resided for many years in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

.David Pallister, 'The man of substance in the shadows', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', London, 22 May 1992, pg. 25 Saïd lived in Syria, the country of his birth, until his early twenties, when he left for Switzerland and worked as a banker, before making his fortune in the Saudi Arabian construction industry in the 1970s. He came to public prominence after helping facilitate the

Al-Yamamah arms deal Al Yamamah () 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 UK government, British government. The prime contractor has been BAE Systems and i ...

between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. He established the Saïd Foundation in 1982 and the

Saïd Business School Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The school is a provider of management education. Business and management classes started at Oxford in 1965 when the Centre of Management Studies, ...

at the University of Oxford in 1996 with an initial £20 million donation. Saïd owns several properties worldwide, including Tusmore Park in Oxfordshire. He is a Foundation Fellow of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

Biography

Saïd was born in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, in 1939 to a prominent Syrian family. Saïd's grandfather had served in the Turkish army during the Ottoman period, reaching the rank of general and was a colonial governor of

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

. Saïd was the youngest son of Rida Saïd, a prominent Syrian

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

who was the Syrian Minister for Higher Education and who had founded the Syrian University in Damascus in 1926 on the request of then King of Iraq Faisal. Saïd's father died when he was still a child, and after initial schooling by Jesuits in Beirut, Lebanon, Saïd studied at the Institute of Bankers in London. Saïd had been offered a place at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, but was unable to take up the place as a result of political instability in Syria in which his family's assets were sequestrated.Valerie Grove. 'My Battle with the Dons', ''The Times'', London, 13 November 1996, pg .17 Saïd finally left Syria amidst the

1963 Syrian coup d'état The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, labelled in Ba'athist historiography as the "March 8 Revolution" (), was the seizure of power in Syrian Republic (1946-63), Syria by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region#Military Bureau, military commi ...

. Saïd described the atmosphere in Syria at the time as being similar to 'the Terror in the French Revolution' in which 'young men were being rounded up.' In Switzerland Saïd worked for the Union de Banque Suisse (now UBS), and later the Banque Commerciale Arabe SA, before his return to England. Saïd established two restaurants serving

Middle Eastern cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine includes a number of cuisines from the Middle East. Common ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey, sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice and parsley, and popular dishes include '' kebabs'', ...

in London in 1967, including Caravanserai on

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

, the restaurants were sold in 1969. In 1969, Saïd married Rosemary Thompson, whom he had met in Switzerland, and they had three children together; two sons, Karim and Khaled, and a daughter, Rasha. In 1981, their son Karim died in an accident at the home of Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia. Saïd was attending a ceremony at the prince's house at the time to receive Saudi citizenship by royal decree. To honour his son Saïd established the Karim Rida Saïd Foundation to help disadvantaged children and young people of the Middle East. Saïd moved to Saudi Arabia in 1969. Saudi Arabia lacked much modern infrastructure at the time, and large infrastructure projects were subsequently funded by the rising price of oil in the early 1970s. During this period of time, he founded and invested in companies that supported large-scale infrastructural projects. Saïd was ambassador and head of the delegation of St Vincent and the Grenadines to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

from 1996 to 2018. Saïd also previously served as St Vincent and the Grenadines ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. In March 2016, Saïd was told by British banking firm

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

that he could no longer bank with them, despite having been a long-standing customer; the BBC reported that "The bank is understood to be concerned about holding accounts that are linked to what are described as 'high-risk countries'". In response, Saïd said he would be taking legal action against Barclays. Those proceedings were settled by June 2016.

Relationship with Syria

Saïd assisted the future Syrian president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

with securing a place in Britain to study ophthalmology in 1992, and was acquainted with the Anglo-Syrian family of Assad's wife, Asma al-Assad (née Akhras). In a 2012 interview with Charles Moore in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', Saïd said that he had found Bashar '...civilised, nice, polished', and that he admired Asma as 'a caring person'. Saïd welcomed Bashar's ascension to the Presidency of Syria following the death of his father,

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

, feeling it was Syria's 'only salvation. His acceptance speech in 2000 was music to my ears. He said he wanted to reform the legal system, revoke the ow 50-year-oldemergency laws, and fight corruption.' Saïd helped introduce Western politicians and businesspeople to Syria, and helped push for political reform in the country. Visiting Syria in 2011 at the advent of the Syrian uprisings in response to the Arab Spring, Saïd told Asma that 'the winds of change are contagious. Please tell the President to promise free elections. He must be the champion of change.' Saïd was appalled by the resulting Syrian Civil War and was summoned to see Bashar al-Assad in June 2011 as he wished to gauge Western views of the conflict. Saïd implored Assad to enact promised reforms and to engage with his political opponents. Saïd welcomed the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

and wished for a secular government in Egypt modelled on that of Turkey's.

Saïd Foundation

The Karim Rida Saïd Foundation was established in 1982 by Wafic and Rosemary Saïd in memory of their son. It was renamed the Saïd Foundation in 2008. It is an English charity. Since 1984, the Scholarships Programme has offered scholarships and training opportunities for talented young Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese and Palestinians, mainly to study in the UK, to enable them to acquire skills that will bring benefits to others in their countries of origin. To date, the Foundation has funded scholarships for almost 900 students from these countries. In 1993 the Foundation established the Child Development Programme (CDP) with the aim of supporting Jordanian, Lebanese and Palestinian community-based organisations to develop and deliver good quality and sustainable care services for disabled children and education in areas of greatest need. The CDP has funded more than 250 project grants since its start, reaching tens of thousands of children. In 1996, the Foundation established the first Disability Programme in Syria, opening an office in 2001 to directly implement the Programme. The office became a locally registered charity in Syria in 2012, the Saïd Foundation for Development. The programme worked to strengthen the professional capacity of disability practitioners and organisations, raising awareness of disability, developing a cadre of national trainers in disability-related fields and supporting or providing services for children with disabilities (and their families), especially in marginalised communities. Due to the current turmoil in Syria, since late 2011 the Saïd Foundation has been providing support for non-political organisations that are delivering emergency humanitarian assistance, including shelters, medical care and schooling, to Syrians most affected by the crisis, whether refugees in Lebanon and Jordan or internally displaced within Syria itself. It has pledged over US$1.8 million to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for university scholarships for Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The Saïd Foundation also supports the

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Business career

In the 1960s, Saïd became acquainted with the Saudi Arabian princes Bandar and Khalid, sons of Prince Sultan, who was the brother of

King Fahd Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 13 June 1982 until his death in 2005. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 1 ...

and would later become the Saudi defence minister. Princes Bandar and Khalid would later serve as the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States and co-commander of Allied forces in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, respectively. Following his acquaintance with Akram Ojjeh, a fellow Syrian financier and the founder of the TAG Group, Saïd established TAG Systems Constructions SA, a civil engineering and telecommunications business, which he chaired. In 1992, Saïd won a unanimous verdict in a libel case in the British high court, and was awarded £400,000 in damages.David Davis. "Tycoon wins libel case over letters." ''The Times'', London, 22 May 1992, pg. 3 The case concerned letters that had been published alleging that Saïd was untrustworthy. Saïd described the letters as "humiliating and untrue", and that the allegations in the letters had caused him "tremendous damage". Saïd owned almost 50% of British Mediterranean Airways, and loaned the airline £8 million before its 2007 sale to BMI. Saïd's wealth was estimated at £1.5 billion by the Sunday Times Rich List in 2014. In 1995 Saïd co-founded Sagitta Asset Management, which handled his family's wealth and the assets of other

ultra high-net-worth individual Ultra may refer to: Science and technology * Ultra (cryptography), the codename for cryptographic intelligence obtained from signal traffic in World War II * Adobe Ultra, a vector-keying application * Sun Ultra series, a brand of computer work ...

s and their families, it was sold to Fleming Family & Partners in 2005. Saïd also invested in the

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in comm ...

established by

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...

, Aitken Hume, and invested £5 million in the short-lived ''

Sunday Correspondent ''The Sunday Correspondent'' was a British weekly national broadsheet newspaper. The newspaper first appeared on 17 September 1989; the title ceased publication with the last issue on 25 November 1990. It was edited by Peter Cole for most of its ...

'' newspaper. In the United States, Saïd invested in the National Bank of Washington and Garfinckel's stores.

Al-Yamamah contract

Saïd helped facilitate the al-Yamamah deal between the British and Saudi governments in the 1980s. The al-Yamamah deal is the biggest export deal in British history and has generated £43 billion in revenue for the British company

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

. The ''Daily Telegraph'' has described Saïd as a 'key fixer' who 'helped broker' the deal, with the ''Guardian'' describing Said as the 'fixer at the heart' of the deal. ''The Guardian'' newspaper wrote that from the proceeds of al-Yamamah ' ritishPolice later calculated that more than £6bn may have been distributed in corrupt commissions, via an array of agents and middlemen'. In June 2007, the BBC's

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

alleged BAE Systems had paid Prince Bandar "hundreds of millions of pounds" in return for his role in the al-Yamamah deals. Turki bin Nasser was also a recipient of money from BAE. An investigation into the al-Yamamah deal was opened by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and later closed for reasons of national security after the Saudi Arabian government had threatened to withhold cooperation on anti-terrorist issues. In a 2007 statement issued by Saïd on the al-Yamamah deal said that he had "...never been the 'business manager' for anybody, let alone any member of the Saudi Royal Family, nor has he ever 'distributed commissions' to any member of the Saudi Royal Family". Saïd's role in al-Yamamah has led to him being described as an arms dealer, a term that he rejects. In 2001 Saïd said that the deal '... brought a huge boost to British industry: you are talking about thousands of jobs. But for some reason, which I cannot understand, the press want to portray this as a shady, mysterious deal ... Quite honestly, I thought I was doing this country a favour; I have never even sold a penknife. I was not paid a penny or advising British Aerospacebut I benefited because the project led to construction in Saudi Arabia that involved my companies.' Saïd's friendship with Thatcher's son, Mark Thatcher, has been perceived as having played an important role in Britain securing the al-Yamahah deal. Mark Thatcher and Saïd have both denied allegations of commissions from the Saudi government. Companies linked to Saïd acquired properties in Belgravia and Mayfair that were 'put at the service' of Thatcher and Dick Evans, the BAE chief executive after the al-Yamamah deal according to ''The Guardian''.

in his 2013 book, ''Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality'' dismisses the belief that Mark Thatcher was pivotal to the deal. Aitken emphasises the role of Margaret's husband, Denis Thatcher as the intermediary between her and Prince Bandar with the assistance of Dick Evans. Aitken described a dinner party at his house in honour of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

at which Saïd met the Defence Secretary

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...

who told him of his optimism that Britain would secure a large defence contract for BAE Hawk aircraft with Saudi Arabia. Saïd told Heseltine of his scepticism of the deal's success, and he was later approached by James Blyth, the Ministry of Defence's head of defence sales. Blyth asked Saïd about the progress of the deal and Prince Bandar reported from his father, Prince Sultan that he had signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

with the French government instead of the British. Saïd informed Thatcher who impressed upon him the historic ties between Britain and Saudi Arabia, which appealed to the Pro-British Prince Bandar and Saïd.

Saïd Business School

In July 1996, it was announced that Saïd had donated £20 million to the

to found a business school. Saïd had agreed to donate the money after the university had voted in 1990 for the creation of a business school, and needed funds of £40 million. Opposition initially arose to the school due to the lack of a suitable site and the nature of management as an academic discipline, and Saïd said that he would reconsider his gift after a potential site on a sports ground at Mansfield Road in Oxford was voted against. The new building for the school opened in August 2001, designed by Edward Jones and Jeremy Dixon. It was accompanied by protests over Saïd's role in the

. A new building at the school, the Thatcher Business Education Centre was opened by The Prince of Wales in 2013 and named by Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

in 2014 in the presence of Saïd and his wife, Rosemary. Nelson Mandela visited the Saïd Business School at the invitation of Saïd in 2002, to open the lecture theatre named in his honour. Wafic Said bust Oxford Business School

Saïd had donated over £70 million to the school by 2014, and he is a member of the University of Oxford's Chancellor's Court of Benefactors. The court consists of the largest individual donors to Oxford, and meets annually with senior officials from the university. Saïd's philanthropic efforts for the university have seen him honoured with the Sheldon Medal, the highest honour that Oxford bestows upon its benefactors. The Sheldon Medal is awarded annually to a member of the Chancellor's Court of Benefactors that has 'made a strategic difference to the life of the university'. A bust of Saïd by Michael Rizzello stands at the entrance to the Saïd Business School, it was one of the last works sculpted by Rizzello before his death in 2004.

Relationship with Margaret Thatcher

Saïd was a passionate supporter of the

British Conservative The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, and said of the effect of her premiership after the

Winter of Discontent The Winter of Discontent was the period between late September 1978 and February 1979 in the United Kingdom characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public sector trade unions demanding pay rises greater than the limits Prime ...

that 'We found we couldn't rely on British manufacturers any more. Then here she comes, this lioness. The honour of England is challenged in the Falklands and she sends an armada! She fights the most powerful union and defeats it.' and said that 'for me, her friendship is the biggest medal'. Saïd was a significant donor to Thatcher's Conservatives in the 1980s, donating at least £350,000 during her premiership. Saïd can no longer donate to British political parties due to his foreign citizenship. Saïd's wife, Rosemary, donated £580,000 to the Conservatives between 2012 and 2014, and Saïd's daughter, Rasha, was recorded as having given four donations totalling £47,000 to the Conservatives in 2008, but these were later explained as having come from her mother, after being incorrectly reported by the Conservatives to the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

. ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' had reported that she had asked her parents to donate to the party on her behalf, and that some of the money had come from them, but her father said that she was mistaken as she could not afford to make such a donation. Saïd is close friends with Charles Powell, the former chief foreign affairs adviser to Thatcher. Saïd appointed Powell chairman of his Sagitta Asset Management in 2001, and Powell chairs the Saïd Business School Foundation.

Other interests

Saïd was an executive producer of the 1987 film '' The Fourth Protocol'', based on

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth ( ; 25 August 1938 – 9 June 2025) was an English novelist and journalist. He was best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', ''The Fourth Protocol'', ''The Dogs of War (novel), ...

's novel of the same name.Frederick Forsyth's. "Spymaster trapped in the City." ''The Times'', London, 17 March 1987, pg. 17 Saïd funded half the film's budget of £3.5 million due to his love of Forsyth's novel.

Other donations

Saïd has significantly donated to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London,

The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation King Charles III Charitable Fund (KCCF), formerly known as The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund, is a United Kingdom-based charity fund. It provides grants to charity organisations in the United Kingdom and internationally. Grantee organisations v ...

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. He also donated £250,000 to the victims of the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

. He is the founding donor of the Wafic Saïd Molecular Cardiology Research Laboratories at the Texas Heart Institute.

Art collecting

Saïd is a noted collector of

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

art, having owned paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir,

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

, and paintings of sporting scenes. Saïd put 11 paintings from his collection up for auction at Phillips in New York in 2000, among the paintings that sold were Renoir's ''Women in the Garden'' (1873) and ''Girl in a Flowered Hat'' (1896), Pissarro's ''September Festival, Pontoise'' (1872) and Cézanne's ''Hill of Galet, Pontoise'' (1879–80). In 1982 Saïd paid a record £80,000 at auction for a

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

that had been made for Qaitbay, the 15th-century Egyptian sultan in 1488.Geraldine Norman, Sale Room Correspondent. "Regent's Park Mosque buys Sultan's manuscript for £80,000." ''The Times'', London, 27 April 1982, pg. 14 The Quran was for a period displayed at the newly constructed

Regent's Park Mosque The London Central Mosque (also known as the Regent's Park Mosque) is an mosque, Islamic place of worship located on the edge of Regent's Park in central London. Design and location It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1977 ...

in London. In 1987 Saïd acquired 20 pieces from the auction of the jewellery collection of

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII). Their intentio ...

, including the famous panther bracelet, the cross bracelet and the flamingo brooch by Cartier. All these were later sold at an auction in 2010.

Horse racing

Saïd was a prominent

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

owner, having owned the

Henry Cecil Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised four winners o ...

trained horses Bosra Sham and Lady Carla.Richard Evans. "Wafic Said to sponsor Guineas", ''The Times'', London, 9 September 1997, pg. 43 Lady Carla was named after Carla Powell, the socialite wife of Charles Powell. Bosra Sham won the 1996 1,000 Guineas and

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong a ...

under Said's racing colours. Saïd's Sagitta Asset Management sponsored the 1,000 and 2,000 Guinea Stakes, and having ended their sponsorship in 2003, Saïd withdrew his racing interests, citing his non-residence in England as the reason.

Property

Saïd family trusts own two homes in the United Kingdom, a £10 million property in

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest Squares in London, square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main ...

in London's

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

district, which when bought in 1992, was then the highest price paid for an apartment in the United Kingdom, and Tusmore Park, a 3,000 acre estate near

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

in Oxfordshire. Tusmore Park is near Prince Bandar's 2,000 acre Glympton Park estate. In 2012 Saïd erected a 92 ft limestone

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

topped with gold in the grounds of Tusmore Park to honour the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for Queen Victo ...

. The obelisk is the largest constructed in the United Kingdom since the 18th century. Margaret Thatcher frequently visited Saïd at Tusmore Park, staying for long periods in Tusmore Park's Clock House in the last years of her life. Saïd rebuilt Tusmore House in 2000 to an English

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

design by Sir William Whitfield. In 2004 the Georgian Group gave the completed house its award for the "best new building in the Classical tradition". Marcus Binney and Sean O'Neill. "Stately £30m home wins classic award.", ''The Times'', London, 2 November 2004. Saïd also owns homes in Marbella in Spain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Saïd is officially resident in the

tax haven A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher. In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...

Awards

Sheldon Medal, University of Oxford; Grand Commandeur Ordre de Mérite du Cèdre of Lebanon and Ordre de Mérite of Morocco.

References

External links

*
Saïd Investment HoldingsSaïd Business School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Said, Wafic 1939 births Living people People from Damascus People from Monte Carlo Saïd Business School Saudi Arabian art collectors Saudi Arabian billionaires Saudi Arabian businesspeople Saudi Arabian expatriates in Monaco Saudi Arabian expatriates in the United Kingdom Saudi Arabian philanthropists Saudi Arabian racehorse owners and breeders Syrian businesspeople Syrian expatriates in Monaco Syrian expatriates in the United Kingdom UBS people Syrian emigrants to Saudi Arabia Permanent delegates of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to UNESCO Ambassadors of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the Holy See Saudi Arabian people of Syrian descent Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) donors Syrian billionaires