Business Insider Edition
Money makes the world go around; no person epitomizes that more accurately than a once close associate of Kenya’s second President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi.
Born from a fairly humble background in Mecca, he would rise to become the richest man in the world and the most powerful arms dealer.
Adan Khashoggi who died in 2017 was worth £2.4billion at the peak of his wealth in the 1970s and was at one point the richest person on earth.
His appetite for finer things in life was beyond the limits of vulgarity. At the peak of his wealth, he presided over 12 estates, including some in Europe and the Middle East.
He also owned a 180,000-acre ranch in Kenya and a two-floor Manhattan residence at Olympic Towers, next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, that was made from 16 existing apartments.
Khashoggi would jet into the country in any one of his three commercial jets, including a Sh4 billion ($40 million) DC-9.
In Laikipia, Khashoggi lived like a prince. Beyond owning what is now Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club, there was his 90,000 acre Ol Pejeta Ranch, which he reportedly lost to the late Lonrho Hotels boss, Tiny Rowland during a poker game.
Lonrho Hotels would later dispose of the property to a UK Charity, Flora and Fauna International, who handed it over to a Kenyan trust for management as a conservancy for posterity.
Set in the middle of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the house is still a source of inspiration. It is now leased to TPS East Africa, which plans to pump in at least Sh145 million for its renovation.
While in Kenya He would host some of the world’s richest royals and businessmen, who aptly referred to his house as a "billionaire’s nest" and champagne would flow like rivers.
The property stands on 3,200 square metres in the 24,000-acre Ol Pejeta Conservancy, with the back doors opening to the spectacular backdrop view of Mount Kenya in all its snow-capped majesty.
The house has four bedrooms, all en suite with walk-in dressing rooms, two lounges, dining room, living room, two private swimming pools — one for the visitors and the other for the owners with large balconies that provide excellent game viewing.
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.
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.
He will be credited with popularising Mount Kenya Safari Club and putting Kenya on the bucket list of some of the filthiest rich billionaires in the world.
