Raymond Wadih Audi () (6 October 1932 – 15 July 2022) was a Lebanese

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

. He was the co-founder of

Bank Audi Bank Audi (, previously Bank Audi- Saradar) is a Lebanon-based universal bank and financial services company headquartered in Beirut, offering financial products and services in personal banking, business banking, private banking and Treasury and ...

Career

Raymond Wadih Audi was born in

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

, Lebanon. His father was a banker and his mother a painter, the family banking business go back to his great-grandfather who had founded a house exchange in Sidon in 1850. Raymond completed a two-year internship at Banque Misr Liban, then he moved 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 ...

. In cooperation with his family, he founded Bank Audi in Lebanon in 1962, followed by opening two branches in Europe in the 1970s. He was the director of the bank since its founding and the chairman since 1998. He was also the chairman of the bank's Corporate Governance and Remuneration Committee. He stepped down from his position as chairman in 2017 and was succeeded by Samir Hanna. Audi served in the Lebanese government as Minister of the Displaced from 11 July 2008 to 9 November 2009. He established the Audi Foundation, which is dedicated to the promotion and preservation of traditional craftsmanship in Lebanon.

Awards

Audi was elected the president of the Association of Banks of Lebanon in 1993. He has received awards, among them, the

Euromoney ''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc. History and profile ''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award, and an honorary doctorate from the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

Death

He died on 15 July 2022, at the age of 89.

Personal life

Audi was married and had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son,

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, was a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

. His brother, Paul Audi, is a writer and philosopher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Audi, Raymond 1932 births 2022 deaths People from Sidon Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Lebanese businesspeople Lebanese bankers Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the National Order of the Cedar Knights of St. Gregory the Great Order of Civil Merit members