Lanky and with the slightly harassed appearance of a super-achiever, Alexander Nix was an accomplished front man for a firm that claimed to be revolutionising the art of political campaigning.
Comfortable in the surroundings of Park Lane’s Dorchester Hotel, Mr Nix met his nemesis in the form of hidden cameras recording as he worked through his relaxed yet persuasive pitch to a prospective client.
With a reasoned charm, Mr Nix explained that the art of political campaigns was not all about exploiting data and using social media platforms to access hitherto unreachable voters. He cited other arts that had proven effective in his experience. Smearing rivals by setting up bogus property bribery scandals or using “Ukrainian girls” to work up a sex scandal.
There was even the suggestion that the basis of a long-term “secretive relationship” could be done by “different vehicles, in the shadows”. The product of England’s premier public school, Eton, where princes William and Harry, among many others, were educated, brought a certain self-awareness to the television sting. At one point, he digressed, conceding his proposed smear campaign “sounds a dreadful thing to say”.
After the TV report was broadcast, the mask had slipped somewhat for the 42-year-old former financial analyst. Close to tears, he told a TV interviewer that as a well-born Englishman he was humouring his guest, having been led into discussing honey traps and other dirty tricks.
Asked for an assessment of how the high-flying technology company had fallen so low, he said he should not have revelled in the “air of mystery” surrounding the company. “I have some regrets about the way that I have represented what the company does,” he said.
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Read more:
UK authorities seek warrant to access Cambridge Analytica offices
Facebook users are demanding answers. But it may be too late
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Mr Nix joined the forerunner to Cambridge Analytica, called Strategic Communications Laboratory, in 2003 and was tasked with building up its US work. He became a regular face among the power brokers in Washington DC and eventually the front man for Cambridge Analytica. The standalone operation attracted US millionaire backers, most notably the wealthy Mercer family.
That lanky frame and practised manner became a regular feature at technology conferences. Huffington Post called him a “showy salesman”.
Cambridge Analytica is thought to have run more than 40 national political campaigns after quickly moving on from its information warfare roots to specialise in Big Data campaigns in the social media era.
In an interview with Techcrunch in 2017, Mr Nix revealed he was working on a biography of his undoubted groundbreaking work on political micro-targeting. The working title: “Mad Men to Maths Men”.
In fact the firm's biggest break, the contract to work with Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign, was anything but scientifically plotted out. As Mr Nix told Forbes: "None of the vendors wanted to work with Trump."
With offices in world cities stretching from Australia to the US, Cambridge Analytica employs more than 200 people. Mr Nix has offered to quit the firm if the move would salvage its reputation.
With more revelations to come, Mr Nix could indeed be spending a lot more time with the stable of polo ponies assembled to pursue his favourite sporting pastime.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The five pillars of Islam
