Only a few days ago, his name was little, if at all, known to Moroccans. But persistent rumours, which the person in question has since officially denied, according to which he claimed love affair with Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, suddenly brought him into the news in the country.
Moroccans are now aware that Andrew Forrest is a wealthy Australian businessman. Certainly, but who is he really?
Al Akhbar this Wednesday, May 29, who dedicated a portrait to him, describes him as a man “convinced», which promotes several humanitarian goals.
While his earnings are estimated at $6.5 million a day, and the total extent of his wealth is estimated at more than $33 billion, Andrew Forrest has a habit of making large donations to charitable organizations.
The Australian billionaire donated 5 billion dollars, in the form of shares in the company Fortescue Metals, the foundation he runs with his wife Nicola, from whom, writes the Moroccan daily, he is currently separated.
This charity supports several programs dedicated to combating the invasion of plastic waste in the oceans, climate change and the various forms that modern slavery can take.
However, one of the reasons Andrew Forrest is particularly committed remains his defense of the Australian Aborigines.
But it was against some of them that he waged one of his fiercest legal battles: the Yudjibarndi are actually one of the indigenous peoples of a region of this country-continent, where the billionaire extracts 180 million tons of pig iron annually.
In the lawsuit they brought against him, the Yudjibarndi sought compensation from him in terms of damages for his exploitation of this resource.
They also won their case after the first verdict was handed down, but Andrew Forrest said last year that he refused “sign checks“, explaining that these practices did not serve the purpose of indigenous peoples, but actually weakened them.
In his work, the billionaire has a reputation as a very demanding person, described as someone who expects his colleagues to be as diligent as he is.
Al Akhbar he also assures that he has the reputation, among his defenders, of a man who has confidence in himself. On the other hand, his detractors describe him as “possessive“AND”heavy“.
For others, Andrew Forrest has “complex personality», especially after he strongly opposed the investigations of certain journalists, eager to learn more about his mining empire.
Born in the state of Western Australia, the billionaire is a descendant of one of the four founders of the Australian Parliament.
According to him, an important role in gaining his self-confidence, when young Andrew was a teenager, was played by his father Donald.
Even this confidence allowed him to succeed in his business, having started as a trader, before deciding to establish his first company, Anaconda Nickel, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this period’s very lively nickel mining market.
21 years ago, in April 2003, Andrew Forrest bought Allied Mining and Processing, which has since become Fortescue Metals Group.
Before transferring a large number of his shares to the charitable foundation he founded, he held 36.75% of the capital of this mining group. And in the 2021-2022 financial year alone, he managed to pocket an incredible $2.4 billion in profits.
Per Fayza Senhaji
May 28, 2024 at 7:10 p.m.