Michel Chalhoub (9 October 1931 – 30 July 2021) was a Syrian-French billionaire, and founder of the Chalhoub Group. As of August 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$1.1 billion.

Early life

Michel Chalhoub was born in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Syria, in 1931.

Career

Michel and Widad Chalhoub started their business in Damascus in 1955. After the successful military coup of Syria and the economic uncertainty, they were compelled to move to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. A decade later, due to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

, they relocated to

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 the company flourished and their sons, Anthony and Patrick, joined the Group. In 1990, after the

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the Kuwait, State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country fo ...

, followed by the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, they established an exile operation in order to keep the company going. They ended up controlling about 20% of the region's market in luxury goods.

Personal life

Michel Chalhoub was married to Widad, and they lived in Dubai. Their two sons, Anthony and Patrick, took over as co-CEOs of Chalhoub Group in 2001. Since Anthony’s death in 2018, Patrick is the sole CEO.

Death

Michel Chalhoub died on 30 July 2021, aged 89. He is survived by his wife Widad and one son, Patrick.

References

1931 births 2021 deaths French billionaires French businesspeople French people of Syrian descent Syrian businesspeople Syrian billionaires Syrian Christians People from Damascus French company founders {{France-business-bio-stub