Said Tawfiq Khoury (‎) (June 6, 1923 – October 15, 2014) was a prominent

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. He was one of the three founders of

Consolidated Contractors Company Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) () is the largest construction company in the Middle East and ranks among the top 25 international contractors with a revenue of US$5.3 billion in 2013 and 1.872 billion by 2020. CCC has offices and project ...

, currently based in

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. Khoury set up the business with his cousin Hasib Sabbagh in

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 ...

in 1952. CCC is the largest construction company in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and ranks among the top 25 international contractors with a revenue of US$5.3 billion in 2013. CCC has offices and projects in over 40 countries, and a workforce of more than 130,000 employees. Khoury who is listed as a billionaire by

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is ranked 10th on the

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world's richest Arabs in 2013. In the last years of his life, Khoury dedicated most of his time to the organisation he founded, The Bethlehem Development Foundation, funding various development projects in the city of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

Personal life

Khoury was born to a

Palestinian Christian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

family in

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1923. He was nourished in an atmosphere of strong family ties, pervasive moral influence, and a deep sense of ethnic and cultural diversity. After attending St. Luke's School in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, he followed his cousin

Hasib Sabbagh Hasib Sabbagh (, also spelled Hassib; 1920 – 12 January 2010) was a Palestinian businessman, activist, and philanthropist. Personal life and education Sabbagh came from a Palestinian Christian family in Safed in Palestine, although he was born ...

to Lebanon in order to study in the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, where both of them graduated from the faculty of engineering. Upon returning home, each of them founded a small construction company in

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. After the establishment of the State of Israel, both men fled back again, this time with their families, to the capital of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where they began working on construction projects. Said and Sabbagh's first task was in the Tripoli airport. Khoury said they were motivated by the

Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...

, "catastrophic expulsion from their homeland Palestine in 1948". In the early 1950s a contract to construct a storage yard for oil pipes in

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for the

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introduced the young engineers to the world's largest construction company of that time, the

Bechtel Group Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the ''Enginee ...

. The connection remained solid for many years, spearheading the

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's extraordinary transformation from a small subcontracting construction company into the international giant it is today Said has three sons and two daughters, from which he has fourteen grandchildren. He was a significant supporter of philanthropic activities in Palestine.

Achievements

Said Khoury held a Legion of Merit from the President of Lebanese Republic and a Legion of Unity from the President of the Republic of Yemen. He held as well as many other Medals of Merit and Honour from different parts of the World. Said has sponsored the establishment of the Said Khoury Information Technology Center of Excellence (SKITCE) at

Al-Quds University Al-Quds University () is a public university in the Jerusalem Governorate, Palestine. The main campus is located in Abu Dis town, near Jerusalem, with three more campuses in Jerusalem and other campuses in Ramallah and Hebron. It was establish ...

Abu Dis Abu Dis or Abu Deis () is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Abu Dis land has been mostly part of " Area B", under Israeli military ...

. Khoury received the HCEF Palestinian Diaspora Award given to individuals who have sustained commitment to revitalize Palestinian culture.

Positions and awards

*Three medals from the Lebanese Government the first in 1976, the second in 2004 and the third in 2013 *Medal Awarded to Said Khoury by the President of Lebanon 2014 *The Bethlehem Star Award from President Arafat *The Jerusalem Star Award from President Mahmoud Abbas *Two Medals from the Russian Orthodox Church. One of them is the Cesar Daniel Boskoy's medal-Senior Officer-presented by Patriarch Alexei the Second *Medal of Peter the Great -first class- from the Russian Federation *Medal from the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem *Golden Medal from the General Maronite Council *AUB Merit Award *Medal of St. Catherine's Order- Sinai *Medal of Archon Depurates from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Honorary Doctorates

*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 ...

* The

Birzeit University Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...

*The Russian Federation Academy of Security, Defense, Law & Order *The Medical Foundation of Kazakhstan

Positions held

*Governor of Palestine in the Arab Monetary Fund *Chairman of the Board of International Business Group (IBG)*Chairman of the Board of “Al Iktissad Wal-Aamal” in Lebanon *Chairman of the Board of Palestine Electric Company, Gaza *Chairman of the Board of Palestinian Student Fund. *Honorary – Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Welfare Association, Geneva *Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of the Palestinian Studies in Beirut * Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Al Sakakini Cultural Center *Member of the Board of Trustees of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Antioch in Western & Central Europe *Member of the Board of Trustees of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy – Miftah *Member of the Board of Trustees of the Bethlehem Foundation-Washington, D.C. *Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Palestinian Studies-Beirut, Lebanon *Member of the Board of Trustees of the Greek Orthodox Archidiocese of Antioch in Western & Central Europe.

Member of the Board of Directors

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 ...

* Canvest Corporation N.V.,

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*Deputy chair of the Arab Life & Accident Insurance Co. Jordan

References

External links

Interview with Pan-Arabic Newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat (In Arabic.)

* ttp://www.aub.edu.lb/doctorates/recipients/2006/Pages/khoury-profile.aspx Said Khoury
Said T. Khoury
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoury, Said People from Safed American University of Beirut alumni Palestinian businesspeople Members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch Eastern Orthodox Christians from Palestine Palestinian Christians 2014 deaths 1923 births Arab people in Mandatory Palestine Palestinian billionaires 20th-century Palestinian people