Mohamed Mansour (businessman)
Sir Mohamed Mansour | |
|---|---|
محمد منصور | |
 | |
| Minister of the Transportation Of Egypt | |
| In office 29 January 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak |
| Prime Minister | Ahmed Nazif |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1948 (age 75–76) Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Youssef Mansour (brother) Yasseen Mansour (brother) |
| Education | North Carolina State University Auburn University |
| Occupation | Businessman, Chairman of Mansour Group |
Sir Mohamed Mansour (Arabic: محمد منصور; born January 1948)[1] is an Egyptian-born British billionaire businessman and former politician.[2][3] He is the chairman of Mansour Group, a US$6 billion conglomerate. In November 2023, Forbes estimated his wealth at $3.6 billion.[4]
He served as Minister of the Transportation in Egypt between 2005 and 2009.[5] In May 2023, he donated £5 million to the United Kingdom's Conservative party, making him the second largest ever donor to the party after Frank Hester.[6][3][7]
Early life[edit]
Mohamed Mansour was born into one of the most prominent business families in Alexandria. The family business, Mansour Group, controls nine of Egypt's top Fortune 500 companies, though it needed to survive the nationalisation and confiscation of its assets in 1965.[8]
Mansour gained an engineering degree from North Carolina State University in 1968, and a master's in business administration from Auburn University in 1971, teaching there until 1973.[9]
Career[edit]
With his two brothers, Mansour maintained an active role in the Mansour Group, the family business, building close ties as distributors for US companies including Chevrolet, Marlboro, General Motors and Caterpillar.[8] Some of his other interests include Metro, the largest Egyptian supermarket chain, and McDonald's franchises in Egypt.[4]
Mansour has led the group since his father died in 1976.[10] Since then, he has overseen all the major corporate developments, including setting up the company's private investment subsidiary Man Capital in London.[11]
In January 2006, Mansour resigned his business responsibilities to serve as minister of transport[9] for the corrupt Egyptian military dictator Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed political opposition and free speech, and was overthrown in the 2011 'Arab Spring'.[12] Mansour resigned in October 2009 after a deadly train crash.[8]
In December 2022, it was announced he would become senior treasurer for the UK Conservative Party.[13] It prompted Private Eye magazine to ask: "So why on earth are the Tories making this autocrat-supporting Middle Eastern car dealing magnate their treasurer? Mansour has donated over £500,000 to the Conservative Party since 2015 through one of his companies, Unatrac."[14]
In May 2023, Major League Soccer announced that an ownership group led by Mansour, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and professional baseball player Manny Machado would own San Diego FC, an expansion team to begin play in 2025.[15]
Tax avoidance and settlement[edit]
Following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs into Mansour Group subsidiary Unatrac, in February 2023 Mansour agreed to a multimillion-pound tax settlement with the British Government.[16] Chief executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, Paul Monaghan, stated that Mansour’s company appeared to have been "compelled to cough up its fair share of corporation tax in the UK", but there remained questions about the specifics of the settlement, and that: "Mansour’s position as Conservative party senior treasurer would seem to be questionable until these issues are clearly and unambiguously resolved."[16]
Russian trading[edit]
Having donated £5 million to the Conservative Party May 2023,[17] the following year, the Labour Party demanded Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak return Mansour's donation, after it emerged one of Mansour's companies, Mantrac had still been operating in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. In reply, Mantrac claimed it was winding down its business in Russia.[18] In January 2023, Private Eye magazine revealed that the website of another arm of the Mansour conglomorate, Mantrac Vostok in Nizhny Novgorod that supplied large earth-moving equipment, was still displaying machinery for sale, and when it contacted its sales department to ask if it was operating normally, received the reply "so-so".[19]
Knighthood controversy[edit]
In March 2024 Mansour was given a knighthood by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, an act that drew severe public criticism. Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, said of Sunak: "It shows a blatant disrespect for the office he should feel privileged to hold."[20][21] Labour MP and shadow minister Chris Bryant said it showed "the Tory party is utterly corrupt. To its core," and that Sunak had refused to answer questions about Mansour in Parliament only "months ago".[22] Reform UK leader Richard Tice also stated it was indicative of "obscene cronyism: the whole thing stinks like rotting fish".[23][24] The editor of Private Eye magazine, Ian Hislop, was applauded by an audience when he stated on the BBC television show 'Have I Got News For You': "Mansour has come to Britain and given the Tories a huge amount of money and he immediately gets a knighthood from Rishi Sunak. That seems to me straightforwardly corrupt. Shouldn't they both be in jail?"[25]
Personal life[edit]
He is married with two children,[4] and lives in Mayfair, London.[16]
As of February 2023, Mansour had donated £600k to the Conservative Party.[16] In May 2023, he made another donation of £5 million.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ "Mohamed MANSOUR personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Walker, Peter (22 May 2023). "Ex-Mubarak minister Mohamed Mansour donates £5m to Tories". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ a b Nevett, Joshua (8 June 2023). "Tory finances boosted by billionaire's biggest donation in 20 years". BBC News Online. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ a b c "Forbes profile: Mohamed Mansour". forbes.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Mohamed Mansour". Forbes. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Tories receive biggest donation in over 20 years". The Telegraph. 21 May 2023.
- ^ Walker, Peter; Mason, Rowena (29 March 2024). "Tory donor's knighthood is sign Sunak 'believes he's on way out', Labour says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ a b c "Mohamed Mansour: A tarnished captain of industry". ahram.org.eg. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Mohamed Mansour". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Egyptian Billionaire Family Caught In The Crosshairs Of Egypt's History". forbes.com. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Wealth management: Mansour's new style of family office". euromoney.com. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ Hymas, Charles (21 May 2023). "Tories receive biggest donation in over 20 years". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Mason, Rowena (14 December 2022). "Tories make billionaire ex-Mubarak minister senior treasurer". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ What A Treasurer, Private Eye, 6 January 2023
- ^ Reineking, Jim (18 May 2023). "San Diego will be home to MLS expansion team, pushing league to 30 clubs". USA Today. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d Pogrund, Gabriel. "Rishi Sunak's election fundraiser Mohamed Mansour chased by HMRC". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ Walker, Peter (22 May 2023). "Ex-Mubarak minister Mohamed Mansour donates £5m to Tories". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Mason, Rowena; Walker, Peter (9 June 2023). "Labour urges Tories to hand back £5m donation from Mohamed Mansour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Russian Around, Private Eye, 21 January 2023, p13
- ^ "Conservative party donor Mohamed Mansour is awarded knighthood". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ PM Under Fire After Honour For Top Donor, The Daily Telegraph, 29 March 2024, p1
- ^ "Major Tory donor Mohamed Mansour knighted in surprise honours list". inews.co.uk. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Gutteridge, Nick (28 March 2024). "Sunak sparks honours row as party donor awarded knighthood". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Mohamed Mansour: Tory donor and four Tory MPs given honours, BBC, 29 March 2024
- ^ Jolly, Bradley (6 April 2024). "Ian Hislop cheered as he questions why Sunak is not in jail over 'corrupt' act". The Mirror. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
