Success stories of Palestinian achievers from all over the world

Said Khoury

Said Khoury

Sector : Business, Businessmen

Personal Info

  • Country of residence: Lebanon
  • Gender: Male
  • Born in: 1923
  • Age: 94
  • Curriculum vitae :

Information

Said Tawfiq Khoury "born in 1923" was a prominent Lebanese/Palestinian Christian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was one of the three founders of Consolidated Contractors Company, currently based in Athens. Khoury set up the business with his cousin Hasib Sabbagh in Beirut in 1952. 

CCC is the largest construction company in the Middle East and ranks among the top 25 international contractors with a revenue of 5.3 billion USD in 2013. CCC has offices and projects in over 40 countries, and a workforce of more than 130,000 employees.

Khoury who is listed as a billionaire by Forbes is ranked 10th on the Arabian Business world's richest Arabs in 2013. Over the past few years, Khoury dedicated most of his time to the organisation he founded, The Bethlehem Development Foundation that aims to rejuvenate the birthplace of Jesus ChristBethlehem in Palestine, a holy city for Muslims and Christians alike.

Khoury was born in Safed, Palestine in 1923. He was nourished in an atmosphere of strong family ties, pervasive moral influence, and a deep sense of ethnic and cultural diversity. After attending St. Luke's School in Haifa, he followed his cousin Hasib Sabbagh to Lebanon in order to study in the American University of Beirut, where both of them graduated from the faculty of engineering. Upon returning home, each of them founded a small construction company in Palestine.

After the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, both men fled back again, this time with their families, to the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, where they began working on construction projects. Said and Sabbagh's first task was in the Tripoli airport. Khoury said they were motivated by the catastrophic expulsion from their homeland.

In the early 1950s a contract to construct a storage yard for oil pipes in Homs for the Iraq Petroleum Company introduced the young engineers to the world's largest construction company of that time, the Bechtel Group. The connection remained solid for many years, spearheading the CCC's extraordinary transformation from a small subcontracting construction company into the international giant it is today

Said has three sons and two daughters, from which he has fourteen grandchildren. While Said remains as the president of the CCC, his sons alongside the sons on Sabbagh are also at the helm of company.

He was a significant supporter of philanthropic activities in Palestine.

Source

Achievements and Awards

Said Khoury held a Legion of Merit from the President of Lebanese Republic and a Legion of Unity from the President of the Republic of Yemen. He held as well as many other Medals of Merit and Honour from different parts of the World.

Said has sponsored the establishment of the Said Khoury Information Technology Center of Excellence (SKITCE) at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis. Khoury received the HCEF Palestinian Diaspora Award given to individuals who have sustained commitment to revitalize Palestinian culture.

  • Three medals from the Lebanese Government the first in 1976, the second in 2004 and the third in 2013.
  • Medal Awarded to Mr. Said Khoury by the President of Lebanon وسام الاستحقاق اللبناني الى الدرجة الاولى ( المذهب ) 2014.
  • The Bethlehem Star Award from President Arafat.
  • The Jerusalem Star Award from President Mahmoud Abbas.
  • Two Medals from the Russian Orthodox Church. One of them is the Cesar Daniel Boskoy’s medal-Senior Officer-presented by Patriarch Alexei the Second.
  • Medal of Peter the Great -first class- from the Russian Federation.
  • Medal from the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.
  • Golden Medal from the General Maronite Council.
  • AUB Merit Award.
  • Medal of St. Catherine’s Order- Sinai.
  • Medal of Archon Depurates from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Honorary Doctorates

  • The American University of Beirut.
  • The Lebanese American University.
  • The Birzeit University.
  • The Russian Federation Academy of Security, Defense, Law & Order.
  • The Medical Foundation of Kazakhstan.

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