Saudi prince tops list of richest men in Middle East |
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Friday, Mar 12, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai Middle East businessmen are well represented in the world's billionaires list, as current Forbes data show.
The richest by far is still Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al SaudPrince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud
, head of Saudi Arabia's Kingdom HoldingKingdom Holding. His current net worth is estimated by Forbes at $19.4 billion (Dh71.2 billion), up $6.1 billion from last year.
Prince Al WaleedPrince Al Waleed is the nephew of the Saudi king and holds his fortune in the listed Kingdom Investment Holding based in Riyadh. The company owns stakes in Citigroup, Walt Disney, Motorola, Coca Cola, Apple, Four Seasons, Fairmont and News Corp, among others. A few weeks ago, News Corp purchased a 9 per cent stake in Al Waleed's Arab media and entertainment company Rotana.
Prince Al WaleedPrince Al Waleed's real estate fortune is valued at more than $3 billion. He owns a couple of aeroplanes, including a custom-made Airbus A380. Second on the Middle East richest list is Ethiopian-born Saudi citizen Mohammad Al AmoudiMohammad Al Amoudi, who made his fortune in oil, gold mining and agriculture. He holds stakes in refineries in Sweden and Morocco, his construction company Midroc operates in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He has also invested in hotels, hospitals, finance, operations and maintenance companies. He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia, and his net worth is estimated by Forbes at $10 billion.
Kuwaiti Nasser Al KharafiNasser Al Kharafi and his family own an estimated fortune of $8.7 billion, based on earnings from one of the Middle East's oldest and largest family trading firms, MA Kharafi & Sons.
It comprises more than 100 sub-companies active in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe in the hospitality, construction, manufacturing and marketing business. He also owns stakes in Kuwait Telecom and National Bank of Kuwait and operates the food company Americana, which is popular throughout the Middle East.
Mohammad Bin Eisa Al JaberMohammad Bin Eisa Al Jaber is a Saudi businessman estimated at $7.5 billion. He is invested in properties mostly in Europe, owns hotel group JJW and MBI International Holding which operates one of the Middle East's largest food processing companies, real estate in Saudi Arabia and oilfield services companies.
One of his playgrounds is Austria, where he owns property and holds stakes in several companies like ski-maker Kneissl where his eldest daughter Masheal Al Jaber was made co-manager recently.
He also, though unsuccessfully, tried to buy stakes in Austria's ailing national carrier Austrian Airlines before it was eventually sold to Lufthansa.
Sulaiman Al RajhiSulaiman Al Rajhi, a Saudi, who is estimated to have a net worth of $6.5 billion, made his fortune by establishing small money changing businesses throughout the region, which later turned out to become the world's largest Islamic bank, Al Rajhi.
He owns a broad variety of other businesses in the manufacturing, real estate, agriculture and warehousing sectors as well as a shrimp farm. Sulaiman is one of the brothers behind Al Rajhi BankAl Rajhi Bank, together with Mohammad, Abdullah and Saleh.
The latter owns a stake in one of country's biggest wheat producers and last year sold the group's poultry business Hail Agricultural Development to Gulf dairy giant Almarai for $253 million.
Egyptian Nassef Sawiris, with a fortune of $5.9 billion, is the youngest son of the Orascom GroupOrascom Group founder Onsi Sawiris. He oversees the construction and fertiliser division of the group and has established a joint venture with Morgan Stanley to invest in infrastructure in the Mena region.
Orascom owned and operated cement plants in Egypt, Algeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and Spain, which had a combined annual production capacity of 21 million tonnes after it was sold to French Lafarge group in 2007. Besides Nassef, his brother Naguib has made a similar fortune as head of Orascom Telecom. Their father, Onsi Sawiris, is said to own $3.1 billion.
The richest businessman in the United Arab Emirates, according to Forbes, is Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair together with his family, estimated at $3.5 billion.
top shots
billionaires club
Name Age Net worth ($b)Country
1Prince Al WaleedBin Talal Al Saud55 19.4Saudi Arabia
2MohammadAl Amoudi 65 10.0 Saudi Arabia
3 Nasser Al Kharafiand family 66 8.7Kuwait
4Mohammad BinIssa Al Jaber 517.5Saudi Arabia
5 Sulaiman Al RajhiSulaiman Al Rajhi 90 6.5 Saudi Arabia
6Nassef Sawiris 485.9 Egypt
7Saleh Al Rajhi 98 5.8Saudi Arabia
8Abdul AzizAl Ghurair and family55 3.5 UAE
9Onsi Sawiris80 3.1 Egypt
10Husnu Ozyegin 65 3.0 Turkey
Source: Forbes
By Arno Maierbrugger
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Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Saudi Telecom Company | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Arabian Oil Company | Saudi Arabia | Oil |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Almarai Company | Saudi Arabia | Food |
| Samba Financial Group | Saudi Arabia | Banking |
| Abu Dhabi Distribution Company | UAE | Electric Utilities |
| KIA Motors Corporation Middle East and Africa | Region-wide | Transportation Products |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Abu Dhabi Ports Company - Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ) | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| ADNOC - Sour Gas Fields Development - Shah Field | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| IGD - Gasco - Habshan 5 Gas Processing Plant | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| Vale Oman - Sohar Iron Ore Pellet Plant | Oman | Industry |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Medical and Research Center | Qatar | Real Estate |
| Red Sea Refining Company - Yanbu Export Refinery | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
Like many other Lebanese around the globe including Carlos Ghosn CEO of Renault and Nissan, Carlos Slim and many other Lebanese people succeed for many reasons the main reason being that they are not living in Lebanon where their energy and focus is not focused on cheap politics but rather on business.
Despite the 30 years of war Lebanon and Lebanese people have not learned any lessons and they have not realized that religion and politics are destroying our country and allowing every other country where Lebanese people work and live to advance and become more prosperous.
If only 25% Lebanese people overseas go back to Lebanon and all the Lebanese politicians leave Lebanon for good, we will all enjoy a much prosperous and peaceful country. Only if! [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]
Carlos Slim is actually Mexican. [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]
I am quite surprised that Ethiopian born Mohammed AL Amoudi is the second richest person in the Middle East. Al Amoudi was born in Ethiopia to an Ethiopian mother and a Saudi (some say Yemeni father). No one knows how he amassed so much wealth, he grew up in Ethiopia and went to school in Ethiopia. He left for Saudi Arabia after he was an adult. No one knows how he made his money. Some say he inherited from his father. Why don't the Saudi media do research and let us know more about Al Amoudi. He is the richest black person in the world. [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]
I received an email last week stating that a Lebanese was ranked # 1 world wide in the Top Billionaires.
I think his name was Carlos Sleim.
Actually he was in Lebanon this week ... and I happened to be in the same place at AL Habtour - Metropolitan Hotel -Lebanon.
I do not know if he is planning to buy the Hotel noting that security was was on high alert during his presence. [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]