de Savary | Sadat | oil ventures | West Africa | oil refineries

While none of the jobs de Savary worked for the first eight years of his career might appear to have much to do with his present life, de Savary feels they're why he's such a hands-on employer today. "I may not be able to do everyone's jobs as well as they do, but if I had to cook in the kitchen, or make your bed, I could do it - because I've certainly had a go at it. I had to. My father died penniless; I've never inherited a penny. I've always had to work with my hands as well as with my brain. It's probably why I don't ask my staff now to do anything I can't do myself." Which in turn explains why much of de Savary's staff has been with him for decades, despite the long days and exacting standards he demands.

None of these jobs made him rich, either. But in 1969, says de Savary, "I met somebody who said there were great opportunities in West Africa. At the time, I had a wife and daughter to support, and no money. So I borrowed money and went there." Within­ five years, de Savary had built a solid ­import/export business from that calculated risk, and he then parlayed it into wildly successful shipping and oil ventures that made millions over some 20-odd years. He had three oil refineries and 16 shipyards across the world. "And along the way, through my involvement in the Egyptian oil business," he says, "I got involved in interesting real estate, building my first five-star hotel
in Cairo."

That sounds like a major career change, but de Savary says no. The common thread: people skills. "I built that hotel because I'd gotten friendly with Egypt's President [Anwar] Sadat and he asked me to." Sadat then jump-started de Savary's new business by opening the hotel with the high-profile, historic 1976 summit between himself and Israel's prime minister [Menachem] Begin.