[ is a businessman and ]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 whose horses have won races including the Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte
The Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to two-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 1,200 metres (about 6 furlongs), and it is ...
, Cesarewitch Handicap
The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 met ...
, City and Suburban Handicap
The City and Suburban Handicap is a Flat racing, flat Handicap (horse racing), handicap Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile 2 furlon ...
, Ayr Gold Cup
The Ayr Gold Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ayr over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled ...
and Chester Cup
The Chester Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 2 miles, 2 furlongs and 140 yards () at Cheste ...
.
A 2018 Channel 4 documentary programme, ''My Millionaire Migrant Boss'', stated his wealth at £50 million. Koukash is often referred to as a multi-millionaire by the media, although he was declared bankrupt in 2022.
Early life and business career
Koukash was born on the west bank of the River Jordan
The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic basin, endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and d ...
in December 1958 in Palestine. When he was eight years old, a nearby Jordanian army base was bombed by the Israeli Air Force and fear of the planes made his family leave their farm 2and the family crossed into Jordan before settling in Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
,[ where his father had already been living for 2 years 2 Eventually, he moved to ]Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
to progress his education, and settled in St Helens to study at the local technical college.[
He graduated from ]Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
and progressed to get a PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in electrical engineering. He taught at the university for five years, and was appointed Director of International Business.
He is also the owner of hotels operated by Hilton such as The Doubletree Hotel in Liverpool.
Horse racing
He was introduced to horse racing by his bank manager, Dave Matthews, and had his first winner in 2007. In 2012, he had 101 winners, who accumulated over £1m in prize money.[ His ]racing silks
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...
are grey with a gold star[ and many of his horses are named after his son, Gabrial and daughters, Lexi and Layla.][ He owns a pre-training facility in Knowsley and uses various trainers including ]Richard Fahey
Richard Fahey is a racehorse trainer, based in Malton, North Yorkshire. He has saddled over 60 Group race and Listed winners in the UK, Ireland, France and Canada. Group 1 winners include Perfect Power in the 2022 Commonwealth Cup and 2021 Pr ...
and Kevin Ryan.[
It is claimed that he is the biggest owner of race horses in Britain.
]
Rugby League
Salford Red Devils
In 2013, Koukash took over the loss-making Super League
Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
club, Salford City Reds. His interest in rugby league began when he went to watch St. Helens matches with his family. He was encouraged to take ownership of Salford by the Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...
chief executive Nigel Wood, who had met Koukash on a flight to Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.[ Koukash aims to make the club the biggest in Super League, rebranding them as Salford Red Devils in 2013 and signing 14 new players.
]
National Rugby League
In 2014, Koukash made public his ambitions of purchasing a team in the Australian National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
(NRL) before the 2015 season. The NRL is considered world's most competitive rugby league competition, in a country where rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
is far more popular than rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
.
In 2016, he also announced his plans to take a British team (the "British Bulldogs") and have them play in the NRL in Australia, with the help of airline and hotel sponsorship.
References
12. The Taming of the Jew, Tuvia Tenenbaum, pgs. 235-236.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koukash, Marwan
1958 births
Living people
British billionaires
People from St Helens, Merseyside
Rugby league chairmen and investors
Sports owners
Salford Red Devils
Palestinian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University