This billionaire was born in Damascus in 1939 and declares his loves to be music, architecture, art and horse racing. His home is the £50 million neo-Georgian mansion Tusmore Park near Bicester in Oxfordshire and he supposedly paid Robbie Williams in excess of a million to perform at his daughter’s May 2012 wedding to PR Khaled Khawaja at The Palace of Versailles. Saïd was one of Margaret Thatcher’s biggest supporters but is also said to have been a confidant of Peter Mandelson. As chairman of Saïd Holdings Limited, he presides over an empire with investments in hedge funds and real estates but he’s better known for the £23 million endowment he provided to establish the Saïd Business School in Oxford in 1996.
Tag: accident
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Wafic Saïd
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The best for the West?
FirstGroup win the West Coast Mainline rail franchise
It has just been announced that FirstGroup, the parent company who operate amongst others First Capital Connect and First Great Western, have beaten Virgin Rail and will take over the West Coast Mainline rail franchise from December. The West Coast Mainline route serves London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the Central Belt of Scotland and is one that I know well having used it regularly to travel between London and Lancashire as a student.
Virgin Rail’s West Coast Mainline Pendolino speeds past the River Lune at Tebay, Cumbria Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Rail, of which 49% is owned by Stagecoach, took over the franchise in 1997 and I have to say that I found the service he provided to be, in the main, perfectly satisfactory. Yes, indeed, there were problems and the 2007 Grayrigg accident did indeed cause considerable disruption, but Virgin’s “tank-like” Pendolino trains were much better than the older trains that they replaced and services did improve during Virgin’s tenure. Many grumbled, however, about fares but frankly they were comparable to those of all other operators throughout the land.
With a government under pressure to get the best deal and the “best value for the taxpayer” according to Richard Westcott, the BBC’s transport correspondent, the attraction of the FirstGroup bid was not only that the £5.5 billion figure offered was far higher than that of the other tenders. FirstGroup also beat Virgin’s £160 million annual service payments with an offer of £390 million and offered £22 million to improve 17 stations on the route. They will also further improve the existing Pendolino trains, provide 11 new 125mph trains and offer new direct services to from London to Blackpool, Telford, Shrewsbury and Bolton.
FirstGroup based their bid on their belief that there is spare capacity on the line and that train usage will grow at an incredible rate. Their bid is linked to a £45 million performance bond that they would have to forfeit if they walk away, as other operators have previously done elsewhere, from the contract.
In a leaked letter to the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, Sir Richard Branson claimed what the FirstGroup have offered will “drastically cut the quality of services.” He is likely to challenge today’s decision in the courts but for West Coast Mainline rail users, one can only hope that FirstGroup truly will deliver what they promise.
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A Corgi Classic
The “Corgi” Rolls-Royce sells for £4 million
Yesterday, at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale at Goodwood, near Chichester, a 1912 Rolls Royce Double Pullman Limousine achieved over double the estimate when it sold for £4,705,500.
Considered to be one of the rarest Rolls-Royce cars in existence, this 100-year old vehicle acquired the “Corgi” name in the 1960s when toymakers Corgi® copied it as part of their range. Undoubtedly the most recognisable Rolls-Royce “Silver Ghost” produced, it now is thought to be the only car of its type left in the world.
The 1912 Rolls-Royce Double Pullman Silver Ghost Limousine, registration “1912 RR” 
A Corgi® model of the 1912 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Designed in the style of a Pullman railway carriage, this 40/50hp 7.3 litre masterpiece was delivered new to John M. Stephens of South Croydon, a known connoisseur of Silver Ghosts, and then passed through the ownership of John C. Sword and Denis de Ferranti in the UK and Richard Solove and most recently John M. O’Quinn in the USA. The vehicle came to auction following the death of Mr O’Quinn, a lawyer who also owned the 1975 Ford Escort GL once owned by Pope John Paul II and John F. Kennedy’s 1962 Lincoln Continental Bubble Top Limo, in a car crash in Houston, Texas.
Of the “Corgi,” James Knight of Bonhams commented:
“Back in those days, customers would buy the engine and chassis and would employ coach builders to do the bodywork. The first owner of this car hired the best coach builders of the day and the car epitomizes the upper echelons of Edwardian society.”
What makes this vehicle especially rare is that it is in perfect condition. Most similar vehicles were converted into ambulances during the First World War and suffered inglorious fates. Whoever purchased this car has undoubtedly added a treasure to their collection.
For more information, contact Helen Buckingham of Bonhams on +44 (0) 20 7468 5870 or go to: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20143
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Dmitry Rybolovlev
This billionaire businessman started out in medicine but soon moved into commerce realising that enterprise would better provide for his family. He was imprisoned on falsified charges of contract murder for 11 months in 1996. Subsequently cleared, Rybolovlev then went on to make his fortune in potassium and banking. This divorced father of two has used his fortune to fund the restoration of many of Russia’s churches and also bought Donald Trump’s former residence, The Masion de L’Amitie in Palm Beach, Florida, for $95 million in 2008. This risk taker also parted with another $88 million in December 2011 to purchase New York’s most expensive apartment for his 22-year old daughter. Rybololev’s passions are surfing and 19th and 20th century art. -
Heather Mills (formerly known as Heather Mills-McCartney & Lady McCartney)
This Geordie Vegan campaigner got some £24 million in her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney. She’s continued to cause trouble ever since.