Onsi Sawiris facts for kids
Onsi Sawiris (born August 14, 1930 – died June 29, 2021) was a very successful businessman from Egypt. He was the leader of the important Sawiris family and started a huge group of companies called Orascom. This group includes many different types of businesses.
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Early life
Onsi Sawiris was born in Sohag, Egypt, on August 30, 1930. His father, Naguib Sawiris, was a lawyer. Onsi was the youngest of four children.
He studied at Cairo University and earned a degree in agricultural engineering in 1950. After graduating, he worked on his family's large farm for two years.
Career
In 1952, Onsi Sawiris started his own construction company. It was called Onsi & Lamei Co. This company built roads and waterways.
In 1961, the Egyptian government took control of his business. This happened under President Gamal Abdel Nasser. His company was renamed El Nasr Civil Works Company. Mr. Sawiris continued to manage this government-owned business for five years.
For six years in the 1960s, he was not allowed to leave Egypt.
After spending some time in Libya, he came back to Egypt in 1976. This was during the time of President Anwar Sadat. He then started a new company called Orascom for Constructions and Trade. It was a general contracting and trading company.
Later, the name changed to Orascom for Construction Industries. In the 1980s and 1990s, the company grew a lot. It started to include businesses in tourism, hotels, computers, and cell phone networks. This growth happened under President Hosni Mubarak.
Today, the huge Orascom group is run by his three sons. Their names are Naguib Sawiris, Samih Sawiris, and Nassef Sawiris.
In 2003, the Sawiris family owned the three biggest companies on the Cairo stock exchange. These were Orascom Telecom, Orascom Construction Industries, and MobiNil. In 2017, the magazine Forbes estimated that Onsi Sawiris was worth about $1.2 billion.
Personal life
Onsi Sawiris was married to Yousriya Loza Sawiris. They had three sons: Naguib, Samih, and Nassef.
He was a Coptic Christian.
See also
- Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E.
- Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)
