Ali al-Faraj was originally introduced to Portsmouth FCCEOPeter Storrie through Israeli super-agent Pini Zahavi when the club was on the brink of financial meltdown. Faraj developed a consortium with other investors and Storrie and bidded for the club. Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak however dismissed the Saudi's bid and instead sold to Dubai businessman Sulaiman Al-Fahim. Just over 40 days later, al-Faraj purchased a 90% stake in Portsmouth on 5 October 2009 through Falcondrone Ltd from Al-Fahim, who now remains as the club's non-executive chairman.[1][2]
Profile
He is a property investor with a holding in petrochemical giant SABIC. Faraj also has has business interests in Saudi Uniform Manufacture and Easyway Limited, with owned property in both Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Personal
Ali has seven brothers and two sisters, including Ahmad al-Faraj who also claims stake in SABIC.[3] He is also married and has two daughters.[4]
