Nadhmi Auchi

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Nadhmi Auchi (Arabic:نظمي أوجي) is a British billionaire businessman who was born in Iraq.

In the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 18th with an estimated fortune of £1,995 million.^[1]

Nadhmi Auchi graduated in Economics and Political Science from the Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad in 1967. He also worked with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, becoming Director of Planning and Development. In 1979 he founded General Mediterranean Holding SA of Luxembourg. From 1996-2000 he served on an advisory committee to the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has been president of the Anglo-Arab Organisation since its founding in 2002.

In recognition of Nadhmi Auchi’s extensive business, charitable and humanitarian activities across the world, numerous awards & honorary positions have been bestowed on him including a number of Royal and State decorations. In 1996, the President of the Tunisian Republic, His Excellency Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, decorated him as an Officer of the Order of the Republic. In 2002, he was also awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence by His Majesty King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Nadhmi Auchi was honoured in 2003 by the Roman Catholic Sacred Military Constantian Order of St George with the honour and dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I in recognition of his major contributions to inter-church and inter-faith dialogue. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted him his Coat of Arms in 2004. In the same year the President of the Republic of Lebanon, His Excellency General Emile Lahoud, awarded Mr Auchi with the First Grade of the Lebanese Order of Merit having already appointed him as a Commander of the National Order of the Cedar in 2000. He was knighted by the late Pope, His Holiness John Paul II with the Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester in 2004.

In 2005 Mr Auchi was made Grao-Mestre da Ordem do Merito Anhanguera in Brazil and was elected as an Honorary Member in the International College of Surgeons in Chicago, Illinois.

In 2007, Mr Auchi, in collaboration with the American University in Cairo (AUC) announced the launch of the ‘Nadhmi Auchi fellowship for young Arab leaders’, a fellowship dedicated to the development of the abilities of Arab youth in institution management and leadership. Mr Auchi pays for the full study and living costs of 10 students from Egypt and other Arab states. The fellowship is expected to commence with the academic year 2008-2009. The fellowship plan was announced during an annual ceremony at the Egyptian Embassy in London to celebrate AUC achievements. During the ceremony, Mr Auchi was awarded ‘The Presidential Prize’ by the President of the AUC in appreciation of his efforts in supporting higher education in the Arab World.

The Anglo Arab Association (AAO), of which Mr Auchi is president, is a private non-profit making organisation, promoting the integration of British Arabs into mainstream British society, whilst retaining their identity. AAO's achievements include donating money to families affected by the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, building a school in the earthquake devastated town of Hoceima, Morocco and hosting a charity gala that collected £35,000 in donations to the benefit of the Cancer Research Unit of the Kingston Hospital in London. Mr Auchi and AAO have also led and sponsored high level delegations made up of Arab, British and French dignitaries, religious and political figures pressing for the release of hostages in Baghdad, including securing the release of two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot and their Syrian driver in 2004.

In 2003, Auchi was convicted of fraud, and given a 15 month suspended sentence for taking illegal payments from French oil company Elf Aquitaine.^[2]. Following the verdict, Elf (by now merged with TotalFina and re-named Total) decided to take legal action against Auchi in France; Auchi responded by suing Total for £200m in turn, this time in the UK.^[3]