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| Iraq-born financier Nemir Kirdar envisioned a local institution that could attract global talent as a bridge into developed markets © Nasser Nasser/AP |
Nemir Kirdar, the Iraq-born financier, was one of the godfathers of private equity who founded Investcorp, a pioneering asset manager that channelled the Middle East’s oil riches into developed markets.
Kirdar, who has died aged 83, fled revolutionary Iraq and made his fortune as a banker, becoming a friend and counsellor to US presidents and the British royal family. A charming salesman and dogged dealmaker, he brushed off western prejudice toward an upstart, nouveau-riche Arab investment firm to build a respected Gulf institution.
Born in 1936 in Kirkuk into a well-connected family with Turkish roots, his great-grandfather was mayor of the multi-ethnic city during Ottoman rule. His progeny then served as parliamentarians under the Hashemite dynasty. As a high-school student in Baghdad, Kirdar would visit the Rihab palace to play chess and watch Hollywood movies with Iraq’s last king, Faisal II, who had inherited the throne aged four.
In 1958, as the fervour of Arab nationalism spread across the Middle East, Kirdar, by now studying at Istanbul’s Robert College, was waiting to welcome his friend the king to the city, where the two had planned to go water skiing. Faisal never arrived, having been shot dead in an anti-western military coup.
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