Sheikh Boutros el-Khoury (, 1907 – 18 November 1984) was a Lebanese businessman, banker and industrialist. A successful self-made man, Khoury managed to build a large commercial and industrial empire, and was one of Lebanon's most well-established businessmen from the 1950s to the 1970s. Khoury was an important figure of the Lebanese ruling elite in the second half of the 20th century. He played a decisive role in the development of economic legislation, and used his expertise in the resolution of several major national crises. Biography Early life Khoury was born in 1907 in the village of Karm Sadde, in the Zghorta District (North Lebanon), the son of Salim and Myriam el-Khoury. His family hailed from the Lebanese diaspora in the French colonies of West Africa, with some members, including his father, residing in Senegal. Khoury lost his parents at an early age: his father died abroad on the day he was born, while his mother died when he was three years old. Khoury was subsequently raised first by his grandparents and then by his paternal aunt, Sayde Khoury, while his father's uncle, Abbas Abboud, who resided in Senegal, supported him financially. It was Abboud who initiated Khoury to the world of business and commerce early on in his life. Education Khoury studied at the Mar Yaacoub school in his home village and graduated from the al-Alam school in the village of Daraya, Zghorta. Business career Khoury pursued a career in business, and by the 1960s had become one of the wealthiest men in Lebanon thanks to his investments in various sectors of the economy. Khoury's career began at the age of 20. He started out in the oil business, dividing his time between his home village and Tripoli until, the beginnings of the 1930s, he moved permanently to North Lebanon’s capital, where it was easier for him to run his business and broaden his contacts. He then shifted easily from trade to industry and conducted many successful partnerships with well-established businessmen in various fields, founding companies such as the Stephan and Khoury company (created with Joseph and Sayed Stephan of Kfarsghab), the Kfoury–Khoury company (founded with Al Kfoury from Khenchara, Metn District), the "Al Ghazzal Transports" with Ghattas el-Murr, and Fadel Al-Ghandour from Tripoli, among others. La Kadisha Over the course of the 1920s, Khoury gained a thorough understanding of financial investment. In accordance with the traditional role played