Facts about harrods
He moved to Britain, bought The Observer newspaper and then transformed Lonrho into one of Britain's largest companies.
However he was perhaps he was best known for losing a long-fought battle with Mohamed al-Fayed to acquire the Harrods department store.
He was born Roland Fuhrhop in India in in a British detention camp. He was the son of a German trader and English mother.
After World War One the Fuhrhops were refused entry to England and settled in Hamburg, Germany.
Tiny rowland biography death
He moved to Britain, bought The Observer newspaper and then transformed Lonrho into one of Britain's largest companies. However he was perhaps he was best known for losing a long-fought battle with Mohamed al-Fayed to acquire the Harrods department store. He was born Roland Fuhrhop in India in in a British detention camp. He was the son of a German trader and English mother. He was said to have been nicknamed "Tiny" by his nanny because of his size.He was said to have been nicknamed "Tiny" by his nanny because of his size. He briefly joined the Hitler Youth in the s.
His father, who hated Hitler, sent him to boarding school in England.
Interned during World War II
After leaving school at 18 he went to work for his uncle and on his 22nd birthday took his uncle's surname - Rowland.
He was conscripted into the British Army during World War One in a non-combatant post, but spent part of the war in a British PoW camp after repeatedly trying to secure his father's release.
He became chief-executive of Lonrho in and turned the company from mining and farming roots into a multinational conglomerate adding oil pipelines, plantations and motor franchises.
He gained powerful friends, especially among newly-independent African leaders and it was said he had better African contacts than MI5.
However, his powerful personality and unpredictability led to him being seen as a maverick and an outsider, never fully accepted by the establishment.
Tiny Rowland was quoted as saying: "You can never have enough enemies."
And he had some well-publicised clashes:
- He had a long-running battle with Mohamed al-Fayed over control of Harrods
- Clashed with British governments over foreign policy
- Criticised oil companies BP and Shell for sanctions-busting in Rhodesia
- Destroyed Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond who made a takeover bid for Lonrho
- Defeated Lonrho directors who sought to wrest control of the company from him in the early s.
- Lost control of Lonrho in to German businessman Dieter Bock who outmanoeuvered him.
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Loved by shareholders for his ability to generate profits he always loved a good fight.
His falling-out with Mohamed al-Fayed over the control of Harrods was thought to cost him �20m and despite it publicly being resolved in , disputes over a safety deposit box continued right up until his death.
By , in his mid-seventies Tiny Rowland was ousted from Lonrho whose phenomenal growth he had overseen.
Man of 'vision'
DTI inspectors once described him as a man with "vision, negotiating ability, determination and personality in unusual measure with unbounded energy to apply his talents".
Tiny rowland biography book Roland Walter "Tiny" Rowland was a British businessman, corporate raider and the chief executive of the Lonrho conglomerate from to Tiny Rowland gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in particular his attempt to take control of Harrods. Tiny Rowland was known for his complex business interests in Africa and his closeness to a number of African leaders. Tiny Rowland was sent to England, where he attended Churcher's College in Hampshire and acquired an upper-class British accent and mannerisms. Tiny Rowland himself was interned as an enemy alien after trying to arrange for the release of his father.And he was widely respected in Africa. In , Nelson Mandela awarded him the Order of Good Hope - South Africa's highest honour.
Despite mixing with the great of good in Britain though, he was never honoured.
He guarded his privacy, with no photograph ever being published of him with his wife Josie and three daughters and son.
Tiny rowland biography He gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in particular his attempt to take control of Harrods. He was known for his complex business interests in Africa and his closeness to a number of African leaders. Having been born in British India , he acquired automatic British citizenship by the custom of jus soli. However, his parents remained "enemy aliens" for the duration of the First World War, and after the war, the Fuhrhops were refused entry into the United Kingdom. They settled in Hamburg , Germany.He had homes in London, Buckinghamshire and Mexico, and a yacht in the Mediterranean.
His personal wealth was huge and estimated at anywhere between �m and �m when he died.
A family friend said he died at a London clinic on Saturday morning with his family by his bedside.