Nasser Beydoun
Born
Beirut, Lebanon
Alma materUniversity of San Diego
OccupationBusiness executive
Political partyDemocratic Party
Children3

Nasser Beydoun is an American business executive and political candidate. He is the former chief executive officer of the Qatar-based Wataniya Restaurants group. Beydoun was the executive director of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Arab American Civil Rights League. He was the first Arab American liaison to the Arab League.

Beydoun is currently a Democratic candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan.[1]

Early life

Beydoun was born in Beirut to Najla and Mohamed Beydoun.[2] His family was from Bint Jbeil and his grandfather represented the town in Lebanon's parliament.[2] Beydoun's great-grandfather had already immigrated to the United States and worked for Ford Motor Company in Highland Park, Michigan.[3] Beydoun's grandfather remained in Lebanon but his father, Mohamed, immigrated to Detroit in 1969 when Beydoun was five years old.[3] Mohamed worked at Ford and raised six children.[3]

Education

In 1987, he moved to California.[4] Beydoun completed a bachelor's and master's degree in business administration at the University of San Diego.[5] He tried opening several business including a tortilla factory.[4] He returned to Michigan in 1999 and in 2000, be became the executive director of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce.[6][4] In 2001, he was appointed by Amr Moussa as the first Arab American liaison to the Arab League.[4]

Career

By 2005, he was a construction company executive based in Wayne County, Michigan.[6] In 2005, he considered running as a GOP candidate in the 2006 United States Senate election in Michigan.[6] He has a history of political donations to both Republican and Democratic officeholders.[6] In 2007, he was hired by Wataniya Restaurants group as its chief executive officer and moved to Qatar.[4] He worked on expanding outlets of Caribou Coffee, Rainforest Cafe, and Sbarro in Qatar, Dubai, and Egypt.[4] He resigned in November 2009.[4][7] He was later stuck in the country for 15 months after his employer and sponsor denied his exit permit.[4]

Beydoun has served as chair of the Arab American Civil Rights League.[5] He is a former trustee of the Henry Ford College foundation.[5] Beydoun was co-chair of BRIDGES, a federal law enforcement partnership with the Arab American and Middle Eastern communities in Metro Detroit.[5]

In December 2022, Beydoun established an exploratory committee ahead of the 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan.[5] He formally announced his candidacy in April 2023.[8]

In November 2023, Beydoun alleged that former Michigan Democratic Party chair Lon Johnson had approached him with an offer of $20 million from a pro-Israel lobbying group to drop out of the Senate race and primary United States Representative Rashida Tlaib, despite Beydoun's publicly pro-Palestinian stance. Johnson repeatedly denied the claims, saying, "that's just crazy. I didn't offer him $20 million, or any other amount of money, to run against Rashida. That's insane."[9]

Personal life

Beydoun married Maysa Beydoun,[7] a Canadian of Lebanese descent and had three children.[3][5] He later married Nancy Jaafar.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Nasser Beydoun announces candidacy for U.S. Senate". ArabAmericanNews. 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  2. 1 2 Warikoo, Niraj (2006-07-31). "Bint Jbeil: Town's local ties are deep". Detroit Free Press. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Markiewicz, David A. (2001-12-30). "Arab enclave wrestles with identity". The Atlanta Constitution. p. A18. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Metro Detroit man trapped in Persian Gulf". Detroit Free Press. 2010-12-18. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Businessman Nasser Beydoun announces U.S. Senate exploratory committee and statewide tour". ArabAmericanNews. 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "New challenger steps up to plate". Detroit Free Press. 2005-04-04. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  7. 1 2 Scott, Melanie D. (2011-10-14). "Family's faith in justice rewarded as metro man's Qatar ordeal ends". Detroit Free Press. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  8. ↑ "Nasser Beydoun announces candidacy for U.S. Senate". ArabAmericanNews. 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  9. ↑ Schuster, Simon (November 27, 2023). "Michigan Senate candidates were offered $20M to drop race, challenge Rashida Tlaib". MLive Media Group. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
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