Deal of the Century

December 16 1875 – 18 Kislev 5636

176,602 shares of stock in the Suez Canal Company, stored in seven zinc boxes, were shipped from Egypt in H.M.S. Malabar, en route for Portsmouth, England. The controlling stake had been sold by the profligate Khedive of Egypt to pay his debts. The buyer was the British Government, bolstered by a timely advance of 4 million [pounds] from N. M. Rothschild & Sons in London. The deal held up for a remarkable 81 years, until President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company in July 1956, sparking the Suez Campaign.