Although not particularly well known in the investment community, his reputation is that of an aggressive trader in obscure securities with a following in this country and among Arab investors abroad.
The retailer will receive a $300 million equity infusion from Investcorp, the group largely backed by anonymous Arab investors that together with management bought Saks for $1.5 billion in 1990.
One major Arab investor who has homes in Paris, Monaco, Beirut, Lebanon, and Amman, Jordan, called the war "a complete quagmire, a complete mess."
The Libyan Arab-Foreign Bank and Kuwaiti Investment Organisation held 40% between them while other Arab investors held 9%.
They finally do so by brokering a deal with some Arab investors who take control of her stock as security for the transaction.
The attempt failed, but three years later, BCCI secretly acquired the bank (renamed First American Bankshares) using 15 Arab investors as nominees.
The Talaat Moustafa family owns 51% of the group's total stock; the rest is owned by Egyptian and Arab investors.
Most of Solidere's investors are European and North American investment firms or Arab investors from the Gulf.
C. I. A. officials were later told that Khashoggi had obtained this money from an Arab investor and two Canadians.
In 2007 an Arab investor injected money in cash for a 50% share in the company.