Dead at 82, the £2billion arms trader playboy who was always close to scandal
He entertained 11 ‘pleasure wives’
fLAMBoYANT arms dealer Adnan khashoggi, who conducted his businesses deals at lavish champagne parties, has died at the age of 82.
The Saudi was worth £2.4billion at the peak of his wealth in the 1970s and was often said to be the richest man in the world.
He was the most prolific weapons dealer of his era who brokered deals with governments, arms manufacturers and private clients across the globe.
While his rivals carried out business in secret, khashoggi did deals at champagne and caviar parties that lasted for days, often in the company of Hollywood stars.
on one occasion, the Stanfordeducated magnate held a party in Istanbul for actress Liz Taylor after her cancer operation, while reportedly hiring rock band Queen to play at another bash.
Legend has it that he spent £150,000 a day at the height of his wealth, before he was implicated in the Iran Contra affair in the mid-1980s.
khashoggi was said to have brokered a secret sale of weapons by the uS government to Iran when it was supposed to be under an arms embargo.
ronald reagan’s administration triggered the sale as part of a complex deal that led Iran to release uS hostages and fund the Contra rebellion in Nicaragua on behalf of the uS.
reagan was forced to apologise when the scandal became public in 1987.
His empire unravelled amid a series of court cases and financial difficulties forced him to sell some of his assets, including his superyacht, Nabila, which eventually ended up in the hands of Donald Trump.
khashoggi, who was born in Mecca to the Saudi king’s personal doctor Muhammad khashoggi, married Sandra Daly, a 20- year- old English woman who converted to Islam and took the name Soraya.
They had five children and Soraya gave birth to another daughter, Petrina khashoggi, shortly after the couple divorced.
However, a DNA test carried out when Petrina reached 18 revealed that she was the lovechild of Jonathan Aitken, the exConservative minister who was jailed for perjury in a libel case. khashoggi, who married again and had a son, was no stranger to infidelities himself. He freely admitted his penchant for prostitutes and was said to have entertained 11 ‘pleasure wives’ on his countless yachts and at numerous holiday homes.
Mr Aitken, now 74, remained friends with khashoggi and saw him shortly before his death. He said last night: ‘He made big mistakes but he was a good man.’