ADNAN KHASHOGGI, DEAD AT 81

ICHEOKU says those who grew up in the 80s know his name as everyone aspired to be like him and used him as the benchmark of riches and flamboyance. Yes, Adnan Khashoggi was a global household name such that so many youths took his name as their alias. ICHEOKU had one such friend named Ken T. who became known as Khasoggi. 

AK for short, Adnan Khasoggi had it all, from private jets to a yacht to homes in almost every nations capital including ranches and manors and he lived it up, really up there in the stratosphere. He was a personification of dazzling wealth and known as the man who pulls a lot of strings in international arena and the most famous arms dealers known at that time. He lived a lavish style that would make a prince envious and a King wonder where has his kingdom's wealth gone to and reputedly spent $250,000 a day to support his larger than life lifestyle. 

Atypical of Saudi billionaire, he spent and spent like cash was going out of fashion and spent himself into a problem he once termed "cashflow" problem and eventually filing bankruptcy. He described his type of business as "merchantry"; for whatever that means, because there was nothing concrete nor visible that he was actually doing other than wheeling and dealing, brokerage and arms deals.  

On his out of this world legendary lavish parties which he throws regularly, he said 'It’s all part of the mechanism for impressing people' as he believed that flaunting wealth and powerful connections come handy in achieving the objective. His legend was such that one writer put it that 'he can persuade you to change your mind after you have made it up'; aka flip flop on your conviction. One writer summarized him and his lavish lifestyle as follows: 

"A high-living Middle East power broker with once-limitless wealth, Mr. Khashoggi was among the last of his breed. He thrived in an era of gaudy excess and came to epitomize it. His appetites were gargantuan, beyond the limits of vulgarity. At the peak of his wealth, he presided over 12 estates, including some in Europe and the Middle East; a 180,000-acre ranch in Kenya; and a two-floor Manhattan residence at Olympic Towers, next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, that was made from 16 existing apartments. He owned a 282-foot yacht, Nabila — used in a James Bond film and later sold to Donald J. Trump — and three lavishly refitted commercial-size jets. His parties were known for rivers of champagne, bevies of women, international celebrities and endless personal attention from the host, known to his many friends as A. K." 

Towards the end of his life, Adnana Khasoggi's was quoted to have said: “What did I do wrong? Nothing. I behaved unethically, for ethical reasons.” ICHEOKU says yes, if any person truly lived, he did; if any person ever had it all, he did; but now, like with all mortals, Adnan Khasoggi has now gone, but his memory lives on in the people who has come to see him as a symbol of the good life and in their minds he lives on. May his soul now rest. Adieu to the world's once richest man who purchased a Queen's yacht and later sold it to the man who later became United States President Donald John Trump.