Mansour Akram Ojjeh (25 September 1952 – 6 June 2021) () was a French Saudi Arabian-born entrepreneur who owned a part of TAG, a Luxembourg-based holding company with interests worldwide. Ojjeh was the CEO of TAG, which owns 14.32% of the McLaren Group, whose assets include McLaren Automotive and the McLaren Formula One team since the 1970s and 2000s.
He was at one time the owner of TAG Heuer and Farnborough Airport. He also owned 10% of the upmarket jewellers Asprey and Garrard.
Early life and education
Ojjeh was born in 1952 and was the son of Syrian born Saudi businessman Akram Ojjeh, son-in-law to Mustafa Tlass and the owner of Techniques d'Avant Garde based in Luxembourg, an investment company that was focused mainly in advanced technologies. His father was an intermediary in deals between Saudi Arabia and France, particularly arms sales. His mother was French and he spent much of his childhood in France. He attended American School in Paris, and graduated in 1974 with a degree in Business Administration from Menlo College in California. Ojjeh gained his master's degree later at Santa Clara University. He had four siblings.
Career
TAG Group
After graduating from college. Ojjeh was named CEO of the company founded by his father, TAG Group, which largely operates in Europe and the Middle East. The company originally invested in numerous sectors such as motor racing, aviation and watchmaking. The firm became famous for brokering deals between France and Saudi Arabia, especially with regards to defense systems and weapons. in 1985, Ojjeh bought Heuer, a watchmaker based in Switzerland, which marks the beginning of TAG Heuer watch brand. Ojjeh's company, TAG Gruppe, was the largest single shareholder of TAG Heuer. LVMH Moёt Hennessy Louis Vuitton bought the brand in 1999 for $740 million. During the early days of his tenure as the CEO of TAG Group, Ojjeh has tried to avoid publicity as much as he could but hit the headlines when he purchased the liner Le France. He assumed the presidency of the company after the death of his father, Akram Ojjeh, in 1991.
Motorsport investments
Williams
Ojjeh's interest with motorsport began when he watched the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix as a guest of the Saudi Arabian royal family, which owned flag-carrier Saudia, a sponsor of Williams Racing. Ojjeh's company at the time had brokered numerous deals between France and his native Saudi Arabia. The race turned Ojjeh into a big racing fanatic and convinced him to expand his business further in motorsport investment starting from the sponsorship to funding the racing engine development for the F1 team later at some point.
At the first attempt to enter motorsport, Ojjeh brokered a sponsorship deal between his company TAG Group and Williams. In 1979, TAG Group successfully secured the position as principal sponsor for Williams. He became the company's familiar representative in the paddock, along with his younger brother Aziz. With the influx of capital invested by Ojjeh's TAG Group, Williams team Engineering Director at the time Patrick Head was able to build a competitive engine for Williams FW07. The engine project was successful and the team secured victory in 1979 British Grand Prix with Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni. Under Ojjeh's sponsorship, Williams produced two champions, Australian driver Alan Jones who was the first driver to win the World Driver Championship title for Williams in 1980, and Finnish driver Keke Rosberg who won in 1982.