World’s richest arms dealer is ‘forgotten legend’ who ‘almost brought down US government’

Billionaire international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi was once one of the world’s richest men – and was known for his highly publicised life filled with exuberant parties, lavish properties, and a fair amount of scandal.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Khashoggi, who died in 2017 at the age of 82, was exceptionally wealthy thanks to his work in arms dealing. After his death, a statement from his family highlighted his “extraordinary business achievements and renowned generosity” and ability to combine “commercial acumen with an over-riding loyalty to his country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

He most notably brokered arms deals between and US firms in the 1960s and 1970s and worked closely with what is now called Lockheed Martin. He went on to represent France in its race against the UK to secure the $20bn al-Yamamah weapons-for-oil deal with the Saudis.

Khashoggi was known in his own right, but he also had famous family members. His sister Samira was married to the , Mohamed Al Fayed – meaning Khashoggi was the uncle of ’s lover, Dodi Fayed.

At the height of his wealth, Khashoggi was known for his parties and his 50th birthday was one to remember, according to his biographer, Ronald Kessler. Kessler Gentleman’s Journal that Khashoggi was given a lion cub by one of his brothers and Shirley Bassey sang him happy birthday.

The birthday cake had on top of it a “gold crown measuring 3ft across and made of sugar” and his chief chef had flown to the Louvre to study Louis XIV’s coronation crown for it. “Anyone who was there knew they’d reached the pinnacle of high society,” Kessler said.

Almost as famous as Khashoggi himself was his multi-million dollar yacht that had a 12-seat movie theatre, two saunas, a swimming pool, a billiard room, and 11 guest rooms over five decks. The Nabila, named after the businessman’s daughter, featured in the Bond film Never Say Never Again and was later sold to none other than .

Trump once called Khashoggi a “great broker and lousy businessman”. to a Vanity Fair article, Trump said of him: “He understood the art of bringing people together and putting together a deal better than almost anyone — all the bullsh***ing part of talk and entertainment — but he never knew how to invest his money.”

Khashoggi’s property empire consisted of 12 homes across the world including in Cannes, Paris, Madrid, London, and Marbella. He once turned 16 apartments in New York into one huge one, and had 100 limousines and three private jets.

In 1987, a scandal hit which saw then-US president Ronald Reagan apologise to the American public. The Iran Contra Affair involved a secret sale of weapons to Iran by the US government, when it was supposed to be under an arms embargo. Reagan’s administration had initiated the sale as part of a deal that led Iran to release US hostages and fund the Contra rebellion in Nicaragua on the US’s behalf. Khashoggi was the one who brokered the deal.

Khashoggi was arrested in Switzerland a year later, accused of concealing funds on behalf of former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda. He reportedly was served gourmet food from the Schweizerhof Hotel, to the , before being extradited to the US on charges of racketeering and fraud. He was later cleared by a federal jury.

However, more scandals followed, and in 1997 he was ordered by a Paris court to pay a $1.6 million fine for smuggling 37 paintings into France more than a decade before, that he had brought in on his jet. In 1998, the London Ritz Hotel’s casino settled out of court its lawsuit against Khashoggi for £8 million of gambling debts.