Jack Dellal (2 October 1923 – 28 October 2012) was a British property investor, nicknamed "Black Jack". His company, the property group Allied Commercial Holdings, financed the purchase of

Shell Mex House Shell Mex House, also known as 80 Strand, is a grade II listed building located at number 80 Strand in London, England. The building was opened in 1932 on the site of the Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original façade of the hotel, between ...

in 2002 and sold it in 2007. Dellal had a net worth of £4.6 billion, making him one of the richest men in England during his time.

Early life

Dellal was born in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, to Iraqi-born

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

immigrants Sulman Dellal, a textile importer and Charlotte Shashoua. He was educated at

Heaton Moor Heaton Moor is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is one of the Four Heatons and borders Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Heaton Mersey. Heaton Moor has Victorian ...

College, also in Manchester. Dellal worked with his father from the early age of 14, selling cloth.

Career

Dellal became a banker in the 1970s. He owned the Dalton Barton London fringe bank, which he sold to

Keyser Ullman Keyser Ullman was a British merchant bank, based in London and founded in 1868. History Foundation Samuel Montagu (1832–1911) and his two original partners in the bank Samuel Montagu & Co., Ellis Abraham Franklin (1822–1909) and Edwin Louis ...

for £58 million. He set up Allied Commercial in 1974 with Stanley Van Gelder, with whom he worked for over forty years. One of their deals was the flip of central London's

Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...

in 2004, which made £75.0 million within two years. He was said to have invested up to £200m in London's

Dolphin Square Dolphin Square is a block of private apartment, flats with some ground floor business units near the River Thames in Pimlico, Westminster, London built between 1935 in architecture, 1935 and 1937 in architecture, 1937. Until the building of High ...

. Dellal's nickname, "Black Jack", was popularly said to have derived from his love of gambling.

Personal life

Through two marriages and at least one long term relationship, he had nine children, seven daughters and two sons. *Zehava Helmer: - Guy (businessman), Lorraine, Suzanne, Diane, and Gaby (film director) *Katya Douglas: -

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

(film director) and Rowan *Ruanne (Louw) : Miss South Africa 1974 runner up: - Zack and Catherine In memory of his daughter Suzanne, Jack founded the

Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre ( he, מרכז סוזן דלל למחול ולתיאטרון) is a centre for dance in Israel, located in Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv. Goals and significance The Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and The ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

in 1989. Guy was a director of Allied Commercial Holdings, who ran Allied Commercial along with his father from 1986, and took over operational ownership years before Jack died. By 2010, he was an investment partner of Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, and an art dealer.

Death

Dellal died in his sleep in London on 28 October 2012, aged 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dellal, Jack 1923 births 2012 deaths Businesspeople from Manchester British Sephardi Jews British bankers British billionaires British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent British real estate businesspeople Mizrahi Jews 20th-century English businesspeople