LONDON // Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a tycoon known for his lavish billionaire lifestyle and far-reaching international connections, has died in London at the age of 82.
A statement released by his family on Tuesday said: "Our beloved father Adnan Khashoggi, aged 82, died peacefully today in London while being treated for Parkinson's Disease. He lived his last days surrounded by his devoted family, children and grandchildren, with the same elegance, strength and dignity that characterised his remarkable life."
US-educated Khashoggi became one of the world's richest men in the 1970s and 1980s by brokering arms deals around the world, earning handsome commissions and operating in a shady business while partying with global elites. His parties were famous for their extravagance and often went for days.
"Our father understood the art of bringing people together better than anyone. He celebrated life in the living of it, and always with an innate curiosity in others," said the family statement. "He combined commercial acument with an over-riding loyalty to his country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
Khashoggi was an uncle to Dodi Fayed, Princess Diana's last love, since his sister was married to Fayed's father Mohamed Al-Fayed.
He was at one time estimated to be worth £2.4 billion ($3 billion) but ran into financial difficulties and had to sell his private DC9 airliner and his yacht, Nabila.
In 1997, a Paris court ordered him to pay a $1.6 million fine for smuggling 37 paintings into France in 1986. Khashoggi brought in the paintings on his private jet on a flight from the United States to Nice with a stopover in Spain.
In 1998, the casino at London's Ritz Hotel settled out of court its lawsuit against Khashoggi for £8 million of gambling debts.
The judge had heard that the Saudi businessman had gambled a total of £10 million between January and April 1986.
His luck quickly ran out and he had to sign a total of 16 cheques for £200,000 each, all drawn from a Swiss bank account.
The bank subsequently refused to honour the cheques because there was insufficient money in the account to cover them.
During the 1980s he also spent time in a Swiss jail, — reportedly dining on gourmet food delivered from a top hotel — fighting extradition to the US after being accused of helping to conceal funds on behalf of the former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda. The charges were reduced and Khashoggi and Mrs Marcos were eventually acquitted.
Khashoggi is survived by his second wife, Lamia and six children.
* Agence France-Presse
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