From Bedouin to billionaire Montpellier’s Mohed Altrad
THERE is a black-and-white image on Mohed Altrad’s wall of a young Arab boy wearing a kufiyah head scarf. ‘That could be me,’ says the softly-spoken immigrant from Syria. ‘But it isn’t.’ The grainy image is surrounded by photographs of modern-day France. ‘There are no pictures from my childhood,’ he adds. ‘I wish there were. I only have the pictures in my mind: sand, camels, muttons, a small carpet to sleep on.’
The Montpellier owner is talking through his pathway from Bedouin to billionaire. The troubled journey of a tribe child who grew up to become one of the most powerful men in world rugby.
‘There were no places in the desert to record birth,’ he adds. ‘I do not know my age. I didn’t live with my father. He raped my mother; this gave birth to my brother. He treated my brother very badly and he killed him. My mother didn’t stay with him but he raped her a second time, one year after; this is how I came. Then my mother also passed away very, very early.
‘I lived with my grandmother, neighbours and uncles. The Bedouin life was very simple. You sleep in a tent made of animal skin and all you need is some water, some bread and sometimes meat. My grandmother said, “The Bedouin doesn’t need school because the Bedouin becomes a shepherd”.’
Altrad defied his grandmother’s wish. He discovered an entrepreneurial spirit before his 10th birthday. ‘One day, this father who really neglected me — did everything nasty you can do — came and offered me a bicycle,’ he says. ‘A red bicycle. It was strange. I never really understood why he did but I was very poor, so I took it. I had no money for pencils, books, paper or shoes so I created a small business renting out my bicycle. This was my first business. School was how I got away.’
Leap forward 60 years or so and Altrad now sits in his estate in the South of France. He emigrated to France, went to university and made his fortune in scaffolding. Today — with five children — he has rugby posts in his garden.
‘I am two people now,’ he says. ‘The one you see here and the one who still thinks in Arabic.’
Conversation moves between meeting Barack Obama, discrimination in business — ‘auditors dug into my accounts more than normal people’ — and his tunnel vision to shake up the rugby world. His rugby revolution starts at home, where he rescued Montpellier’s in 2011. Using the clout of his cheque book, has created a star-studded squad including Louis Picamoles, ex-Ulster hero Ruan Pienaar and All Black Aaron Cruden.
‘I am not a prophet but rugby needs new people to disturb the existence,’ he says. ‘I will fight. We signed Aaron Cruden because he proved something with the All Blacks. We offered him €800,000 a year. His agent told me Bristol had offered more than €1m, yet he chose to join us. In a perfect model, I would have 15 French players starting for Montpellier but there is no choice. We have 450,000 amateur players in France but nobody is taking care of them. My proposal is to fund a foundation for them.
‘There are presidents, vice-presidents — former players without business experience — who are very comfortable. AIG pay the All Blacks £13million, O2 pay England £11m, yet nobody in France said they need a sponsor for the national jersey? I am negotiating €7m or €8m, €5m towards the foundation.’
Altrad views rugby as a whiteNow dominated sport. He contrasts it to French football, but is unapologetic for a soccer-like rise in wage bills.
‘The budget of Paris Saint Germain is €700m,’ he says. ‘Our salary cap is €10m. Why would you forbid investors from putting in money? It’s contradictory with the basic rules of business. The more stars you have, the more you generate in television rights and ticket sales.
‘Rugby must sell a spectacle, so you need to invest and find the right formula. Our previous coach, Jake White, had a special way of playing: hit and destroy. Every week we had criticism. We lost a lot of followers. Vern Cotter is changing that.’
Hit and destroy could also describe Altrad’s approach to business dealings. Concerns were raised about his financial arrangement by Bernard Laporte, while the clubs’ federation accused him of acting unethically in a meeting. Altrad’s response? ‘A handful of prejudiced imbeciles.’
He holds no fear of the old order and his grand plan extends beyond the South of France. He made a bid to buy Gloucester last season — with a string of South African signings lined up — but his proposal was rejected by the English RFU, in the face of strong opposition from rivals in England’s south west.
‘With Gloucester, the idea was to create a synergy between two countries,’ he says. ‘The idea was to create a hybrid pitch, invest in the academy, commit £10m and win the Premiership. I was told [of] a very big resistance from Bath. They didn’t want to have somebody else nearby. That’s the story. It’s a pity.’
The thing with Bedouins is, they never stop moving. So where else could Altrad’s journey take him? ‘I would like to take rugby to Syria but I don’t know if it will be possible,’ he says. ‘You have the Assad regime, the Russians, Al Qaeda and everything is destroyed. Every trace. It makes me sad.’
Although, you suspect nothing will stop the boy in the head scarf.
‘WHY WOULD YOU FORBID INVESTORS FROM PUTTING IN MONEY’