Tumas Group heir Franco Fenech dies

Franco Fenech, one of two sons of the late George Fenech, was 47 years old

Franco Fenech, one of the heirs to the Tumas Group, has died. 

The Corfu-based businessman was 47 years old.

Fenech was one of several shareholders of Tumas Group Company Limited, the holding company behind one of Malta's biggest business empires. The company owns and operates the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, along with various other hotels, restaurants and properties. 

It is also a shareholder in the Electrogas consortium that operates the Delimara power station and part of a joint venture that holds a concession to operate the Valletta Gateway Terminal. 

Franco Fenech had temporarily replaced his brother Yorgen as a Tumas Group director in 2019, following his brother's arrest in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He later stepped away from the firm, remaining a shareholder. 

The two were the only sons of the late businessman George Fenech, former chairman and managing director of Tumas Group, who died in 2014. 

An amateur boxer, Franco Fenech had in the past opened up about his years-long struggle with cocaine addiction. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.