ASIF Aziz is a billionaire known for owning and operating key landmarks.
The key landmarks include the London Trocadero but who is the owner Asif Aziz - we explain.
Who is Asif Aziz?
Asif Aziz was born in 1967 in Limbe, Malawi.
He moved to London at the age of six and graduated from the British American College London with a business baccalaureate.
He worked for property investment company Morgan Grenfell Laurie before he moved back to Angola, Africa in 1993.
Asif made his fortune by setting up two manufacturing businesses which include Golfrate Angola which he later sold in 2005.
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The same year, he returned to the UK and established Criterion Capital which acquired:
- The London Trocadero leisure complex.
- The London Pavilion (1 Piccadilly Circus).
- The Criterion Building (1 Jermyn Street).
In 2005, the Evening Standard reported that Asif bought his first property at 16.
He visited an auction with a relative stating he was 18 and bid £1.9 million for the building opposite South Kensington Tube Station.
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Criterion Capital is the biggest landowner in the Leicester Square - Piccadilly Circus corridor.
This includes 15 commercial buildings in the West End of London, the Docklands and Croydon.
Criterion unveiled plans to turn the Trocadero into a 500-room pod hotel in 2009.
In 2014, plans were also unveiled to open a TK Maxx on the same site, however the Crown Estate may have opposed this.
In 2023, Asif won permission to turn the Trocadero into a mosque.
What is Asif Aziz's net worth?
Asif is reputed to be the UK's 7th richest Muslim man.
The Daily Telegraph ranked him Asif Aziz as number 12 of 40 in it's list of successful entrepreneurs.
Asif, as the CEO of the company, owns and manages a £3.6 billion property portfolio across the South East of England and London.
Who is Asif Aziz's ex-wife, Tagilde Aziz?
Asif found himself in a £1.1 billion legal battle with his ex-wife Tagilde.
He claimed she wasn't entitled to any of their £1.1 billion fortune in 2017 after he admitted they were never legally married.
He claims that they obtained a "fake" marriage certificate so they could get their child, who they adopted, a passport.
Asif wanted a high court judge to rescind a divorce pronouncement.
However, Tagilde claimed as the couple was together for 20 years, she was entitled to a fair share of the £1.1 billion fortune.
She also claimed they underwent a Muslim marriage ceremony in Malawi in 2002 but Asif denied this.
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The divorce battle was later settled.
No details of the settlement were released.
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