Charles Saatchi

Charles Saatchi (/ˈsɑːtʃiː/; Arabic: تشارلز ساعتجي‎; born 9 June 1943) is a British businessman and the co-founder with his brother Maurice of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s – until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year, the brothers formed a new agency called M&C Saatchi. Charles is also known for his art collection and for owning Saatchi Gallery, and in particular for his sponsorship of the Young British Artists (YBAs), including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

Early life

Charles Saatchi is the second of four sons born to Nathan Saatchi and Daisy Ezer, a wealthy Iraqi Jewish family in Baghdad, Iraq. The name "Saatchi" ساعتچی (sā'ātchi), which means "watchmaker", originates from Ottoman Turkish ساعتچي (Modern Turkish saatçi), derived from "saat" ("watch", in turn from Arabic "ساعة") with the suffix "-çi" . Charles's brothers are David (born 1937), Maurice Nathan (born 1946) and Philip (born 1953). Nathan was a textile merchant and in 1947, he anticipated a flight that tens of thousands of Iraqi Jews would soon make to avoid persecution and relocated his family to Finchley, London. Nathan purchased two textile mills in north London and after a time re-built a thriving business. Eventually the family would settle into an eight-bedroom house in Hampstead Lane, Highgate.