page_title: Boutros el-Khoury
section_title: La Kadisha
hierarchical_section_title: Boutros el-Khoury / Business career / La Kadisha
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Devant Al-Kadisha
context_page_description: Sheikh Boutros el-Khoury 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.
context_section_description: Over the course of the 1920s, Khoury gained a thorough understanding of financial investment. In accordance with the traditional role played at that time by the Lebanese diaspora in the country's economy, the young sheikh reinvested the money he received from his family abroad, including his great-uncle Abboud from Senegal, in various local businesses.
  In this respect, his experience in the hydroelectric company "La Kadisha" highlighted early on his innate talents as a businessman. The company had been founded in 1924 by prominent figures in Bsharri, such as the Keirouz and Geagea families, with the Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli, Anthony Peter Arida, also playing an important role. Under the French Mandate, the company had obtained the concession to provide electricity from the Kadisha Valley to the rest of North Lebanon. First introduced into the company through his uncle Abbas, Khoury quickly rose through its ranks, and in 1929, at the age of 22, was elected to the administrative council. In 1929, La Kadisha merged with the Abu Ali hydroelectric plant, the power concession for which had been granted to the Stephan brothers. On 10 August 1930, Khoury was re-elected to the new council. He gradually acquired a majority stake in the company, until on 14 May 1953, he bought the majority of shares owned by the French shareholders of the companies La Pyrénéenne and La Toulousaine. He then became president of the company.
  Khoury's years working in the administration of La Kadisha had a significant impact on his economic and political outlook. The economic thought of Albert Naccache, author of La Kadisha hydroelectric project, was especially influential. Naccache advocated greater industrial development in Lebanon, contrary to the widespread ideology at the time that was influenced by the ideas of Michel Chiha, according to which Lebanon was a "merchant republic" devoid of any raw materials. Naccache called for the establishment of a large network of hydroelectric power plants across the country that would be financed and managed entirely by Lebanese capital and executives. This experience gave Khoury a taste for industrial adventure and contributed to his grander vision for the national economy.
caption: In front of "La Kadisha" with various political figures.
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