Harrods boss loses libel case
Mohammed Al-Fayed, the boss of Harrods, has lost his libel case against Dow Jones and Co, publishers of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the paper that compared his luxury store to the humiliated US energy firm Enron.
James Price QC, for Harrods, said the story was an “extraordinary attack”.
Enron was forced to seek chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 after being found guilty of “cooking the books” in a series of accountancy scandals.
Now the Fulham football club owner will have to pay costs estimated at £500,000 following the jury’s majority verdict at London’s High Court.
Al-Fayed sought legal advice after a story went out on the WSJ’s website on April 5th, 2002.
The story – “The Enron of Britain?” – responded to a press release issued by Harrods the day before April Fools’ Day about a “first come first served share option offer”.
Investors interested in the “spoof” deal were invited to contact Loof Lirpa (April Fool spelt backwards) at Harrods, so the press release ran.
The WSJ admitted to falling “hook, line and sinker” for the joke.
But the article added if Harrods ever went public, “investors would be wise to question its every disclosure”.
WSJ insists the “tongue in cheek” article in question was meant to be funny.
Gavin Millar, WSJ’s lawyer, said there had been no deliberate attempt to make “a real comparison between Harrods and Enron”.
