The colourful former kebab shop owner from Syria surfaced in the UK society pages once more this year when his wife Rosemary bid US$65,000 at Conservative party leader David Camerons first fundraising ball, for an eight-person dinner to be provided by celebrity chef Albert Roux.
Nicholas Soames, former shadow defence minister, and Boris Johnson, former editor of the Spectator and the Tories higher education spokesman, will be wine waiters. Mr Said was the middleman in Britains biggest arms deal, the Al Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia signed by Margaret Thatcher and renewed by Tony Blair.
Born in Damascus in 1939, Wafic was one of six children. His father, an eye surgeon, served as the countrys minister of education. He began a career in investment banking in Geneva in 1963, but it was after he moved to Saudi Arabia in 1969 that he made his huge fortune, largely from the construction business. In 1981, he was given Saudi nationality, which he has kept.
Although Said says he received no commission for fixing the UK arms deal thanks to his connections with the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (hes a good friend of Charles Powell, who was Thatchers private secretary and, since returning to private life, has built a successful career as an international wheeler-dealer), he admits his other businesses benefitted as a result.
He owns two homes in Britain a vast apartment in Eaton Square, Londons most expensive address, and a 2000-acre estate in Oxfordshire two homes in France and one each in Marbella, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Monaco, where he officially resides. He also has a private jet, paintings by Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Modigliani, and some 50 racehorses.
I made my money by hard work and determination and, of course, luck. I happened to be in Saudi Arabia at a time when the country was building its infrastructure airports, road networks, hospitals, schools and large housing projects. It effectively moved into the 21st century in the space of 15 years from 1976, he has said.
Over the years, Said has given millions to charity including the Oxford Business School, which is his biggest single donation. He gave it US$40m. This year he took a hit on British Mediterranean Airways, a franchise carrier of British Airways, which stepped up its capital-raising efforts to offset losses, including those caused by the war in Lebanon. BMed is currently 49%- owned by Guernsey-registered Guernroy, which is controlled by the trust settlements of three members of Saids family.
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