The Issa brothers, owners of supermarket giant Asda, are known by many as the "billionaire brothers". But it is a nickname at least one of the pair isn't fond of.
The self-made billionaires Mohsin and Zuber Issa joined TDR Capital to acquire the majority ownership stake of Asda in 2020. Mohsin, 49, and Zuber, 48, are also the faces behind the EG Euro Garages chain of forecourts.
Their parents Vali and Zubeda initially worked in the textile industry when they moved to the UK from India before their father bought a petrol station. The pair are some of the richest people in the UK and are estimated to be worth more than £1bn, reports LancsLive.
Despite amassing a considerable fortune, the pair still live just 10 minutes from the terraced house they grew up in. In a rare interview, Asma Issa, wife of Zuber, said "they are very different characters"
She said: "Zuber is someone who is very easily approachable. He's kinder. Moshin is very work-orientated.
“They actually hate being dubbed the billionaire brothers. They try to avoid the media as much as possible. My father-in-law was initially in the rag trade. Then he went on to the building trade for a few years and eventually ended up buying a petrol station when the boys were a bit older.
“The boys used to help out during their teen years. That is where the passion for petrol stations came in.”
Their first venture was buying a petrol forecourt in Bury in 2001 before expanding across East Lancashire and creating Euro Garages. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s 'Profile’ show, Mrs Issa said her husband told her he had bought the derelict site when they returned from an exotic holiday.
She added: “I don’t know what he saw in the petrol industry. We had only been married a couple of years. We were actually on our way back from holiday in Malaysia and he stopped off in Bury to see this site and then in the car he told me that ‘I have just bought this’.
“Every Saturday Zuber would visit all the sites. It was fun. A few years down the line when it got to the stage when Zuber couldn’t handle everything he approached his brothers and said one of you come and give me a hand. That’s when Mohsin came in.”
The brothers built their business empire on the back of a successful formula of a convenience store at the petrol station. Last week they added the fast-food chain, Leon, to their portfolio. And now they’re rumoured to have their eye on Caffé Nero.
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But Mrs Issa revealed the pair were not the most academically gifted at school. She added: “In terms of grades I don’t think he did really well. He was really interested in retail and I think when he was about 17 or 18 an opportunity went up for him to buy a newsagent in Preston. Which he ran from the age of 18.”
The couple tied the knot in 1998 after an arranged marriage. They had both been to the same primary school but had never met.
Mrs Issa, a mother-of-four, added: “We got introduced through our parents. It was not exactly love at first sight but he did dazzle me literally at the first meeting.”
Ilyas Munshi, commercial director of EG Group, told the programme he was asked to speak at the boys old school and met Mohsin’s old head teacher. Mr Munshi said: “With a chuckle she said to me – well his attendance was very poor.
“I looked at some of his reports and academically he needed to do a lot better. I mentioned this to Mohsin and he said ‘I remember those days – the teacher would always say Mohsin, I don’t know what is going to become of you.’"
