21 Facts About Tiny Rowland

Roland Walter "Tiny" Rowland was a British businessman, corporate raider and the chief executive of the Lonrho conglomerate from 1962 to 1993.

Tiny Rowland gained fame from a number of high-profile takeover bids, in particular his attempt to take control of Harrods.

Tiny Rowland was known for his complex business interests in Africa and his closeness to a number of African leaders.

Tiny Rowland was born Roland Walter Fuhrhop on 27 November 1917 during World War I in a British internment camp for aliens outside Calcutta, India.

Tiny Rowland's mother was Anglo-Dutch and his father, Wilhelm Fuhrhop, was a German export-import trader in Calcutta.

Tiny Rowland was said to have been nicknamed "Tiny" by his nanny because he was a large child.

Tiny Rowland was sent to England, where he attended Churcher's College in Hampshire and acquired an upper-class British accent and mannerisms.

Tiny Rowland then worked for his uncle's shipping business in the City of London.

Tiny Rowland took his uncle's surname, Rowland, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War.

Tiny Rowland was conscripted into the British Army, where he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Tiny Rowland himself was interned as an enemy alien after trying to arrange for the release of his father.

In 1948, Rowland moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he subsequently managed a tobacco farm at Eiffel Flats, Mashonaland West province.

Tiny Rowland was recruited to the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company, later Lonrho, as chief executive in 1962.

Tiny Rowland failed in his legal attempt to block the move but was backed by shareholders and retained his position.

In 1983, Tiny Rowland took over The Observer newspaper and became its chairman.

Tiny Rowland campaigned to gain control of Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, but he was defeated by Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Tiny Rowland described his relationship with the Fayed family in his book A Hero from Zero.

Shortly after the indictment of Libya in the Pan Am Flight 103 incident, Tiny Rowland sold a percentage of his interests to the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company, controlled by the government of Libya.

Tiny Rowland was succeeded by former diplomat Sir John Leahy.

Tiny Rowland died from cancer in London on 25 July 1998.

Tiny Rowland met Josie Taylor in 1965 and married her in 1968.