Top 30 Arab billionaires have assets of $125.3bn

02 April 2007
Thirty Arab billionaires are collectively worth $125.3 billion (Dh460.10bn) according to Forbes 2007 list of worlds richest people.

Among the top 10 Arab billionaires, UAE's Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair has been ranked as fourth with a net worth of $8bn (29.37bn).

He shares his position with Mohammed Al Amoudi of Saudi Arabia holding a similar net worth.

Interesting the Arab world's richest list has Saudi Arabia offering 13 out of the 30 total billionaires with the top slot occupied by Saudi Arabia's Alwaleed bin Talal holding a net worth of $20.3bn (Dh74.54bn).

According to Forbes the number of Arab billionaires recorded an increase of 25 percent in a single year compared to a 19.3 percent increase of billionaires across the world.

However the collective net worth of Arab billionaires only increased by 15.4 percent compared to a worldwide increase of 35 percent.

Meanwhile the number of billionaires in the world totaled 9464 with a collective net worth of $3.5 trillion (Dh12.85trn) a significant increase from last year figure of 793 billionaires with a collective ne9t worth of $2.6trn (Dh9.54trn).

This year also witnessed a few newcomers. While seven Arab men made a debut in the 2007 world's richest list, Lebanon's Hind Rafik Al Hariri who was considered the youngest billionaires in the world last year departed from the list this year.

Of the seven newcomers three are from Saudi Arabia two are from Egypt two are from Lebanon and one from Kuwait Mohamed Al Bahar who restored his position on this years list with a net worth of $1.4bn (Dh5.14bn).

Saudi's new faces meanwhile include Maan Al Sanea securing sixth place with a net worth of $7.5bn (Dh27.5bn); Sulaiman Al Qusaibi, featuring 26^th with $1.4bn (Dh5.14bn) and Mohamed Al Jaber featuring 28 with $1bn (Dh3.67bn).

Nominees from Egypt however included two brothers Nassef and Samih Sawiris with Nassef securing 10^th position with a net worth of $3.9bn (Dh14.3bn) and $1.5bn (Dh5.5bn) worth of his assets.

Lebanese brothers figured in the list this year. Nagib and Taha Mikati holding a net worth of $2.3bn (Dh8.44bn) each secured a joint 17^th position with Saad Al Din al Hariri who slipped down from his eight place last year after his wealth suffered a decrease.

The list of 946 billionaires includes 178 new comers and 17 people who climbed back into the ranks after being absent for a years or more.