• $12.75bn

• Real Estate

• 0

The final quarter of the year proved a tough one for the founder and chairman of MBI International, following a UK court battle with Standard Bank. At one stage a portion of the company’s assets — valued at around $12bn — were frozen. However, after coming to a settlement with the bank on Dec 7, the assets were unfrozen. With a substantial recent cash injection into the MBI Group, Al Jaber ...

• $12.40bn

• Banking & Finance

• 0

Any businessman in the Gulf will be familiar with the Olayan name. The conglomerate owns more than 50 companies, with hefty stakes in various multinationals and blue-chip names such as Credit Suisse, in which it upped its stake from 3.4 percent to 3.6 percent in 2009 Its multi-billion-dollar portfolio is spread over continents including North America, Europe, Asia and, of course, the Middle East.

Established in 1947, the ...

• $10.70bn

• Construction & Industry

• 0

Issam Alzahid is the chairman of the Alzahid Group of Companies. It got its start in 1951 under the banner Alzahid Construction, when it had a hand in smaller-scale planning of roads and other city infrastructure. Later it would be tapped to build the kingdom’s first coast guard stations.

By 1958 the company was in full swing, building everything from bridges to tunnels and flyovers — indeed much of the ...

• $10.40bn

• Energy

• 0

One of the Arab world’s most successful businessmen, Al Amoudi’s father is Hadhrami Yemeni and his mother is Ethiopian. He immigrated to Saudi Arabia in 1965 and became a Saudi citizen. His wife is Sofia Saleh Al Amoudi who is a shareholder of Midroc Construction.

He is said to be the largest foreign investor in both Sweden and Ethiopia. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from the ...

• $8.70bn

• Retail

• 0

Nasser Kharafi passed away last year leaving the reins of the Kharafi Group in the hands of his sons, who include Bader (pictured). Also vice president of the group, Bader told Arabian Business earlier this year that the family plans to honour his father’s legacy by proving the third generation of Al Kharafis can securely carry the family business into the next decade and beyond.

“We are working on ...

• $7.25bn

• Banking & Finance

• 0

A revaluation of the family’s assets results in them becoming the year’s highest gainers — in particular its sizeable shareholdings in First Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank.

Bukhamseen Group was launched half a century ago as the vision of one man, Jawad Ahmed Bukhamseen. He founded the Jawad Bukhamseen Commercial Corporation in 1957, and under his able leadership the company grew and diversified, ultimately evolving in status from ...

• $7.20bn

• Construction & Industry

• 0

What a year for the family which is now Saudi Arabia’s most successful construction empire. The last few months saw it ink deals to construct Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Tower and the expansion of the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Between then the contracts are worth over $20bn. However, those key contracts aside, the Bin Ladin empire has also been hit by the uncertain price of land in ...

• $7.00bn

• Construction & Industry

• 0

The Bugshan family owns a business empire of epic proportions. Based in Jeddah, they are associated with a plethora of business sectors, including automobiles, luxury cosmetics and watches, real estate and electronics. As regional entrepreneurs, they also maintain a strong presence in Morocco, Yemen, Algeria and the UAE. Founded in 1923, the Ahmed Salem Bugshan Group (referred to as ASB) started as a steel manufacturer. Since then it has developed ...View full profile →

• $6.50bn

• Construction & Industry

• 0

Said Khoury is renowned as much for his business acumen as his passionate support of the Palestinain cause. He chairs the Palestinian Businessmen’s Association, he’s governor of Arab Monetary Fund and he’s a major shareholder in the Arab Palestinian Investment Company. But of course none of this would have been possible without his enormous commercial success. With cousin Hasib Sabbagh, in 1952 he founded Consolidated Contractors International ...View full profile →