KNOWN AS THE ‘Palestinian Rothschild’, powerful billionaire Al Masri founded EDGO, an oil and gas contracting company in Amman. The company he chairs, PADICO accounts for up to 27 per cent of the Palestinian economy and employs hundreds of thousands of people. He is also a founding member of many of Palestines companies including Jerusalem Development and Investment Company (JEDICO), Palestine Telecommunications Group (PALTEL) and Palestinian Development and Investment Company (PADICO). Not one to shy away from politics, in a 2014 interview with The National, the former confidant of Yasser Arafat, said that the Palestinian economy had no chance without independence.