Al Fayed is selling out of the Bling Economy

Mohamed Al Fayed is selling out of the Bling Economy. So, says Matthew Lynn, should you.

Mohamed Al Fayed always said he'd never sell Harrods. It was the prize in his portfolio, the one asset he'd take to the grave. But that was before Qatar Holdings came along and offered him £1.5bn for it.

The Egyptian-born grocer has never been a popular figure in his adopted country. His brash, money-drenched lifestyle endeared him to no one. Turning a traditional British department store into something about as classy as a Dubai gift shop didn't do his reputation any good. Nor did encouraging conspiracy theorists to focus on the Royal Family after his son, Dodi, died alongside Princess Diana. But he's always been a brilliant street trader and has a street trader's inner sense for when to buy and sell. From 1985 to 2010 he rode the emergence of London as the headquarters of the Bling Economy'. Now he almost certainly senses that era is coming to a close. There are plenty of bling assets on the London market. If Al Fayed is selling out, so should you.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.