Sir Mohamed Mansour (Arabic: محمد منصور; born January 1948)[1] is an Egyptian-born British billionaire businessman and former politician.[2] He is the chairman of the Mansour Group, a US$6 billion conglomerate. In October 2024, Forbes estimated his wealth at $3.3 billion.[3] He served as the Minister of Transportation in Egypt between 2005 and 2009.[3]
Sir Mohamed Mansour | |
|---|---|
محمد منصور | |
 | |
| Minister of Transportation | |
| In office 29 January 2005 – 27 October 2009 | |
| President | Hosni Mubarak |
| Prime Minister | Ahmed Nazif |
| Preceded by | Essam Sharaf |
| Succeeded by | Alaa El Din Mohamed Fahmy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 1948 (age 76) Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Youssef Mansour (brother) Yasseen Mansour (brother) |
| Education | North Carolina State University Auburn University |
| Occupation | Businessman, Chairman of Mansour Group |
Early life
editMansour was born into one of the most prominent business families in Alexandria. The family business, the Mansour Group, controls nine of Egypt's top Fortune 500 companies, though it needed to survive the nationalisation and confiscation of its assets in 1965.[4]
Mansour received an engineering degree from North Carolina State University in 1968, and a master's in business administration from Auburn University in 1971, teaching there until 1973.[5] In 2022, Mansour was awarded an honorary doctorate by North Carolina State University and made "Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters".[6]
Career
editWith his two brothers, Mansour maintained an active role in the Mansour Group, the family business, building close ties as distributors for US companies including Caterpillar, General Motors, and McDonald's.[4][3] Mansour has led the group since his father died in 1976,[7] overseeing all the major corporate developments, including setting up the company's private investment subsidiary Man Capital in London in 2010.[8]
In December 2005,[4] Mansour resigned from his business responsibilities to serve as Minister of Transportation.[5][9] Mansour resigned in October 2009 after a deadly train crash.[4]
In December 2022, it was announced he would become senior treasurer for the UK Conservative Party.[10]
In May 2023, Major League Soccer announced that an ownership group led by Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation would own San Diego FC, an expansion team to begin play in 2025.[11]
Personal life
editHe is married with two children,[3] and lives in Mayfair, London.[12]
As of February 2023, Mansour had donated £600k to the Conservative Party (UK).[12] He made a donation of £5 million that May.[13][14] The then opposition Labour Party demanded Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak return Mansour's donation, after it emerged one of Mansour's companies, Mantrac had still been operating in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. In reply, Mantrac claimed it was winding down its business in Russia.[15] In March 2024, Mansour received a knighthood from Sunak for contribution to business, charity and political service.[16] The honour was criticised by opposing political parties and media outlets.[17][18][19]
References
edit- ^ "Mohamed MANSOUR personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Nevett, Joshua (8 June 2023). "Tory finances boosted by billionaire's biggest donation in 20 years". BBC News Online. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Forbes profile: Mohamed Mansour". forbes.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Mohamed Mansour: A tarnished captain of industry". ahram.org.eg. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Mohamed Mansour". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Mansour Group's Mohamed Mansour receives honorary doctorate from North Carolina State University". Business Today Egypt. 11 May 2022.
- ^ "Egyptian Billionaire Family Caught In The Crosshairs Of Egypt's History". forbes.com. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Wealth management: Mansour's new style of family office". euromoney.com. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ Hymas, Charles (21 May 2023). "Tories receive biggest donation in over 20 years". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Mason, Rowena (14 December 2022). "Tories make billionaire ex-Mubarak minister senior treasurer". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Reineking, Jim (18 May 2023). "San Diego will be home to MLS expansion team, pushing league to 30 clubs". USA Today. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ a b Pogrund, Gabriel. "Rishi Sunak's election fundraiser Mohamed Mansour chased by HMRC". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ Walker, Peter (22 May 2023). "Ex-Mubarak minister Mohamed Mansour donates £5m to Tories". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Tories receive biggest donation in over 20 years". The Telegraph. 21 May 2023.
- ^ Mason, Rowena; Walker, Peter (9 June 2023). "Labour urges Tories to hand back £5m donation from Mohamed Mansour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Major Tory donor Mohamed Mansour knighted in surprise honours list". inews.co.uk. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Conservative party donor Mohamed Mansour is awarded knighthood". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Gutteridge, Nick (28 March 2024). "Sunak sparks honours row as party donor awarded knighthood". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ Walker, Peter; Mason, Rowena (29 March 2024). "Tory donor's knighthood is sign Sunak 'believes he's on way out', Labour says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 April 2024.