Nadhmi Auchi Net Worth & Biography

Nadhmi Auchi is an Iraqi-born British businessman and billionaire who is probably best recognized for being the founder and president of the Anglo–Arab Organization. He also founded General Mediterranean Holding (GMH), a business comprising over 120 companies worldwide, which he currently leads as its chairman. This businessman is one of the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Arab Organization which he leads as its founding president was founded in 2002 as a private non-profit that is focused on promoting the integration of British Arabs into British society while retaining their identity. In 2002, Auchi was honored with the Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence, after having been made Officer of the Order of the Republic six years earlier. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Nadhmi Shakir Auchi on 11 June 1937 in the Karadat Mariam area of Baghdad, Iraq. Theirs was an Assyrian family of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

For his studies, Auchi attended Al Mansoor Primary School and later enrolled at Baghdad College High School, before advancing to study at Baghdad’s Mustansiriyah University. He graduated from Al-Mustansiriya University, Baghdad in 1967 with a B.Sc. in Economics and Political Science.

Professional Life: Businesses

After completing his studies, Auchi started working with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and later became Director of Planning and Development in 1969.

In 1979 he founded his first business called General Mediterranean Holding SA in Luxembourg.

From 1996 to 2000, he served as the Vice-Chairman of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Asides from that, he has been heading the Anglo-Arab Organization (AAO) as its president, since he founded it in 2002. The Anglo-Arab Organization which is a private non-profit that is focused on promoting the integration of British Arabs into the British society while retaining their identity, boasts of a roster of achievements that include hosting a charity event that collected donations of £35,000 to the benefit of the Kingston Hospital’s Cancer Research Unit in London, building a school in the town of Hoceima, Morocco that was devastated by an earthquake, and donating cash and supplies to families affected by the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in 2005. Auchi and the non-profit organization have also led and sponsored delegations made up of Arab, French and British dignitaries, political and religious figures pressing for the release of captives in Baghdad, including securing the release of two French reporters, Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot and their Syrian driver in 2004.

In 2007, Auchi collaborated with American University in Cairo (AUC) to announce the launch of what was called “the Nadhmi Auchi fellowship for young Arab leaders”. The fellowship is dedicated to the development of the abilities of young Arabs in institution management and leadership. The businessman pays the full study and living costs of 10 from different Arab states.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

One other side of this businessman that is pronounced in almost every aspect of his activities is that he is a serial winner of awards and recognition for his numerous accomplishments.

Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in 1996, made Nadhmi Auchi an Officer of the Order of the Republic. In 2002, King Abdullah II of Jordan awarded him the Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence. The following year, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I (GCFO) in recognition of his major contributions to inter-faith dialogue.

In 2004, the College of Arms in England approved his Coat of Arms. That same year, he was awarded a Membership First Grade of the Lebanese Order of Merit by Émile Lahoud, the president of the Republic of Lebanon. This came four years after the same president appointed him as a Commander of the National Order of the Cedar. He was also made a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester (KSS) by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

In 2005, the businessman and philanthropist was made Grao-Mestre da Ordem do Merito Anhanguera in Brazil and was also voted an Honorary Member in the International College of Surgeons in Chicago, Illinois. In 2007, the President of the American University in Cairo awarded him with ‘The Presidential Prize’ in appreciation of his dedication to supporting higher education in the Arab World.

Auchi was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2013. In 2014, he was made a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of the Nation of Antigua and Barbuda. However, following accusations around the circumstances in which it was given, this honor was later removed by the Governor-General of Antigua.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

He married his wife Ibtisam in 1963. Together they have a son and three daughters.

In 1979, Auchi fled to the United Kingdom with his family following an attempt by an enforcer for Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti to extort him. Six years later, the Baathist regime hanged Auchi’s younger brother Naseer after he discovered the extent of al-Tikriti’s corruption.

Auchi currently resides in London with his family. He became a British citizen in 1989.

Nadhmi Auchi Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

As of today, Nadhmi Auchi’s net worth is estimated at 2.3 billion dollars. Born in Baghdad, Iraq, this businessman fled to London in 1979 and founded General Mediterranean Holding in Luxembourg (GMH). He currently serves as the chairman of this establishment, which is a conglomerate of 120 companies around the world.

A graduate of Economics and Political Science, Nadhmi Auchi has achieved tremendous success in his professional endeavors through a career that has spanned more than five decades. Unfortunately, despite all his accomplishments, his career has not been without controversies. In 2003, this intelligent founder and president of the Anglo–Arab Organization was convicted of fraud for being involved in a $504 million corruption case that centered around Elf Aquitaine, a French oil company. He was fined roughly $3 million and given a suspended jail sentence.