A FAMOUS resident of Marbella, Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi middleman-for-hire who amassed huge wealth and influence peddling everything from American weapons to favours for Riyadh’s rulers and CIA spymasters, only to see his fortunes collapse amid the Iran-contra affair and other scandals, died last Tuesday at a hospital in London. He was 81, by most accounts.
In a family statement, the cause of his death was complications from Parkinson’s disease.
In the 1980s Adnan Khashoggi was considered the king of the Marbella jet set and the lavish parties he threw at his residence in Benahavís and on board his enormous yacht ‘Nabila’ were legendary, but his departure from the town bore none of the glamour of those golden years.
The enormous 900-hectare estate on which he had built his home was embargoed by three banks; it was eventually acquired by a group of Spanish, Swiss, German and American investors and is now the prestigious La Zagaleta residential development, which is now considered the most luxurious in Europe.
His yacht did not fare much better. It too was eventually sold and, after being used in the James Bond film Never Say Never, was bought by Donald Trump.
