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I think portraying him as having "built his empire from the ground up" is misguided at best and very dishonest at worst.
If I won a $1 million lottery (after taxes) I’d have no idea how to turn that into $100M. I’d probably spend 75% of it on a house, 10% of it to pay off other debts, and then be still solidly in the labor class.
The guy obviously built an empire out of nothing, through both grift and grit. His first major win may have been ingratiating himself with the Haitian leadership, but how do you do this with nothing?
I don’t admire it, but I recognize that it doesn’t just happen either. The guy didn’t really win with a lottery ticket, he did something to put the fix in at the lottery.
What we do know is he married the sister of a billionaire in 1953...
Please spend some time reading the HN commenting guidelines - there are a few about divisive topics and flamebait which are relevant to this comment.
At the time of posting, 40% of the comments on the article were pointing to a Guardian hit piece basically trashing the man's legacy.
- These kind of "narratives" are about averages, and there's always exceptions. This is really just a variant of the ol' "my uncle chain-smoked his entire life and lived to be 89 therefore smoking isn't harmful!", "it was chilly this winter in Chicago therefore climate change is a hoax!", and similar non-arguments.
For these reasons I feel that any conclusion derived from Al-Fayed's life – positive or negative – are invalid. It doesn't prove "you can only become rich by being a crook" but also doesn't prove "anyone can get ahead with enough skills". It's a single data point, nothing more.
As for "trashing the man's legacy", Al-Fayed didn't exactly beat around the bush when it came to other people. I'm reminded by a Christopher Hitchens quote, which goes something like "I don't expect any kindness after my death, because I'm not dishing out any", or something along those lines.
I wasn't quoting from the article posted - I can't see where you quoted from OP's posted article - so I'm not sure what you mean. All I see is you referring to the guardian article as a "hit piece".
The other commenters are merely presenting the rest of the facts about him - I don't know why you're uncomfortable with this.
Anyway, please read the commenting guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
"He began his life as a porter — carrying bags and selling soft drinks and, later, sewing machines — in Egypt’s bustling Alexandria ..."
So I didn't "invent it", it's a direct quote from the article. Whether you judge the Guardian as a more reputable source of information than arabnews.com, that is your personal preference. (also note: news are not facts, they are interpretations of events written by laymen on a salary and a time constrain)
I believe they are referencing the other comment you made:
> When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Which in this context is snarky, not substantive and likely to be flamebait.