Walid Juffali

Walid Ahmed Juffali (30 April 1955 – 20 July 2016) was a Saudi billionaire heir and businessman. He was the chairman of E. A. Juffali and Brothers, one of Saudi Arabia's largest companies. His July 2016 divorce settlement of £75 million, shortly before his death from cancer, was the largest such settlement in English legal history.

Early life and education

Juffali was born on 30 April 1955,^[2] the son of Ahmed Abdullah Juffali (1924–1994),^[3] the founder of E. A. Juffali and Brothers, one of Saudi Arabia's largest companies.^[4] His younger brother is Khaled Juffali, and his sister is Maha Juffali.^[5] His brother Tarek Juffali died in 2008 from a drug overdose, and had been "a heavy heroin and cocaine user and also took Rohypnol and smoked 30 cannabis joints a day".^[6]

He received a bachelor's degree from the University of San Diego, California in 1977.^[7][8] In 2012, he received a doctorate in neuroscience from Imperial College London.^[9][10] His PhD thesis was entitled, "A Novel Algorithm for Detection and Prediction of Neural Anomalies", and his supervisor was Chris Toumazou.^[11]

Career

Juffali was the chairman of E. A. Juffali and Brothers,^[9] a position he has held since at least 2005.^[12]

In 2005, Juffali was also chairman of Saudi American Bank, deputy chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Honorary Consul-General for Denmark.^[12]

In December 2005, the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) announced that Juffali would host its entrepreneurial reality show, The Investor, which would be shown early in 2006.^[12] In her book Arab Television Today, Naomi Sakr, compared the show to The Apprentice, but noted that each of the 13 pairs of would-be entrepreneurs had to be from the same family, to reflect the "family aspect of business in the Arab world".^[13]

Juffali also had a separate company, W Investments, a private wealth management company.^[10] The CEO is Jamil El Imad, who is also managing director and chief scientist of his NeuroPro company.^[14]

Legal immunity

On 9 November 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Juffali had gained legal immunity in the UK, having been appointed as St Lucia's "Permanent Representative" to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which is headquartered in London.^[9]

Two days later, St Lucia's Office of the Prime Minister issued a statement, confirming that Juffali was appointed to the role in April 2014, "that all necessary due diligence was done prior to the appointment", and it declined the request from his ex-wife's lawyers to "lift the diplomatic immunity of Dr. Juffali to compel Dr. Juffali to testify in the civil suit ... this is a civil matter in which it does not desire to get involved."^[15]

On 26 December 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that it understood that the British Foreign Office had intervened to ask St Lucia to waive Juffali's immunity, amid concerns that he was using it to protect his wealth from his ex-wife during divorce proceedings.^[16]

On 21 January 2016, The Daily Telegraph reported that the High Court had ordered Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary to certify whether Juffali had been formally accepted by the UK as a diplomat representing St Lucia, as his ex-wife's lawyer stated that Juffali had never attended an IMO meeting.^[17] The judge lifted restrictions on reporting his ex-wife's claim that Juffali was seriously ill with cancer in a Swiss hospital since, if he were to die before the case is concluded, her claim would become irrelevant, and she and their daughter would receive no further monthly payments.^[18]

In February 2016, the High Court dismissed Juffali's claim of diplomatic immunity as 'spurious'. Juffali appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal, and was supported by an intervention from the Foreign Secretary.^[19] The Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's dismissal of Juffali's immunity, but ruled that his immunity was not relevant to the divorce claim, which it allowed to proceed.^[20]

The divorce of Juffali and his second wife, Christina Estrada, was concluded in the British courts in July 2016 with Estrada being awarded £75 million, the largest such settlement in English legal history.^[21]

Death

On 20 July 2016, Juffali died in Zurich, Switzerland, after a lengthy period with cancer. There may be a delay in paying the £75 million divorce settlement, but it is legally binding.^[22]

Personal life

Juffali's first wife was fellow Saudi, Basma Al-Sulaiman, who received £40 million in a divorce settlement in 2000.^[1] They married in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1980, where they lived in a marble palace. Guests of Juffali in Jeddah included Margaret Thatcher, John Major and George H. W. Bush.^[23] They had three children.^[24]

In 2001 Juffali married Christina Estrada, an American former Pirelli Calendar model, but they divorced in 2014.^[9] Estrada started divorce proceedings in 2012, after he married Loujain Adada (Saudi law allows up to four wives), and has made a claim against Juffali for at least his three UK properties, which include a seven-bedroom home in Knightsbridge, London, in a converted church, valued in total at about £60 million. Juffali and Estrada have a teenage daughter.^[1]

Juffali was one of three Saudi businessmen who donated at least $1 million to the Clinton Presidential Center.^[25]

In November 2012, Juffali married the 25-year-old Lebanese model and TV presenter Loujain Adada in Venice.^[9] They had two children together.^[26]

References