WHEN FORBES FIRST LAUNCHED its list of international
billionaires in 1987, just three countries from the Middle
East—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon—were included.
As the region flourished on the back of its oil wealth, the
Middle East became home to many more billionaires in the
ensuing years.
Fast forward 31 years later, the region’s billionaires list
continues to have the names that were on the list from the
start. While the Arab world’s billionaires have not been
immune to family feuds and power struggles, close familial
ties and cultural discipline have helped preserve wealth till
date despite differences in opinion.
In this issue, octogenarian billionaire Abdullah Al Ghurair
spoke to us about how he grew his business empire in the
early days of Dubai. On the other end, we had a conversation
with the newest tech entrepreneur on the block Ayman
Hariri, who is gradually emerging from the shadows of an
impactful legacy.
Breaking away from the norm, Forbes has chosen not to
include billionaires or billionaire families from Saudi Arabia
within this year’s list after reports of asset seizures emerged.
Nevertheless, these billionaires and ones across the region
form the backbone of the Middle East’s economy. Forbes
takes the task of ranking them seriously as a global team
of 13 reporters and many more part-timers along with the
licensees (including the Middle East), led by two editors, have
worked diligently to collate the details of wealth amassed by
billionaires across the globe.
Is this a conclusive list? Probably not. But as Forbes’
Chief Content Office Randall Lane puts it, “free fair markets
deserve transparency” and the first step towards it would be
to know who controls the vast swathes of wealth. And we
hope through our lists we are doing just that.SIDE LINES
Delving Into The
Nine Zeroes Club
By Mary SophiaDr. Nasser Bin Aqeel Al Tayyar
President & Publisher
[email protected]
Khuloud Al Omian
Editor-in-Chief Forbes Middle East
CEO - Arab Publisher House
[email protected]
Mary Sophia
Deputy Editor for Magazine
[email protected]
Researchers: Jason Lasrado,
Ahmed Mabrouk, Ranju Warrier
Translation: Mohammad Albalawani
Reporters: Samuel Wendel, Carla Sertin
Head of Creative: Soumer Al Daas
Graphic Designers: Sally Hoteit, Kashif Baig
Head of Sales: Krishna Natarajan
[email protected]
Managing Editor- Special Editions: Claudine Coletti
[email protected]
Senior Group Sales Manager: Ruth Pulkury
[email protected]
Sales Managers:
Arif Abdul
[email protected]
Karthik Krishnan
[email protected]
Sales & Marketing Coordinator: Mathew George
[email protected]
For KSA
Sales Manager: Ghousuddin Rizwan Mohammed
[email protected]
Sales Manager: Ahmed Gohar
[email protected]
Events Director: Nolie Papa
Executive Assistant to CEO & Editor-In-Chief
Kavya Pinto
[email protected]
Head of Finance: Daniyal Baig
[email protected]
Operations Manager: Habibullah A. Qadir
[email protected]
Head of Human Resources: Khizraa Javed
[email protected]
Queries: [email protected]^
For Production Queries:
[email protected]IN TOUCH WITH BUSINESSforbesmiddleeastForbes.ME ForbesME
Forbes Middle EastAPRIL 2018 ISSUE 70
6 FORBES MIDDLE EAST APRIL 2018