TOP 10 RICHEST PEOPLE IN DUBAI 2019

Updated: Apr 26, 2020

Check Out The Top 10 Billionaires in Dubai

This poll is calculated according to 2018 results on Forbes list.

10. Saif Al Ghurair: $1.9Billion

Saif Al Ghurair is the founder of family holding company Al Ghurair Group, which has interests in banking, steel and packaging.
He owns significant shares in Mashreq bank, a leading U.A.E. bank, and in Dubai-based National Cement Company.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, one of the world’s biggest steel producers, has a minority stake in Al Ghurair Steel.

With more than 250 schools worldwide, the private education firm counts the Blackstone Group among its key investors.
Son of Indian expat teachers who migrated to Dubai in 1959, Sunny Varkey controls GEMS Education, the world’s largest operator of K-12 schools.
Varkey shelved plans to list GEMS in London at an estimated valuation of $5 billion after the UAE government put a freeze on tuition fees.

Abdulla Al Futtaim owns conglomerate Al Futtaim Group, run by his son Omar, who is vice chairman.
In 1955, the group became the exclusive distributor in the U.A.E. of Toyota, which now has the leading share of the auto market with around 30%.
Al Futtaim also has the license to operate Hertz, Ikea, Toys “R” Us and Zara in the U.A.E
The retailers anchor its malls, which include Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City.

Indian-born farmer’s son, Ravi Pillai migrated to Saudi Arabia after his small construction business in his native Kerala state went bust.
With help from a well-connected local partner, he started over in 1978 and built his RP Group into a $6.8 billion (revenue) construction heavyweight.
The construction magnate has used his Gulf riches to invest back home, picking up stakes in banks, hotels, real estate.

Former pharmacy salesman B.R.Shetty immigrated from Karnataka in south India to Abu Dhabi in1973 to set up a healthcare empire.
His biggest asset is London-listed NMC Health, one of the UAE’s largest hospital chains.
Shetty has brought his money remittance firms UAE Exchange and Travelex Group under a new holding firm called Finablr.
Shetty also owns healthcare firm BR Life, which has a presence in India, Nepal, Africa and the Gulf region.

Hussain Sajwani is the chairman of Dubai-based luxury real estate developer Damac Properties, which he founded in 2002.
He started out in the food services business, catering to the U.S. military and construction giant Bechtel.
In 2001, after Dubai allowed foreigners to own property, he shifted to real estate and sold units in residential building in less than six months.
Damac teamed up with Donald Trump in 2013 to develop two Trump-branded golf courses in Dubai developments.

Middle East retail magnate Micky Jagtiani drove a taxi in London before moving to Bahrain and starting a baby products shop in 1973.
He built it into the Dubai-headquarters Landmark Group, which his wife Renuka runs today as chairman and CEO.
With estimated annual revenue of $6 billion, Landmark has 2,300 stores spread across 22 countries in the Middle East, Africa and India.

Majid Al Futtaim founded retailing and entertainment giant Majid Al Futtaim Holding, known as MAF, in 1992.
MAF owns and operates 12 hotels and 21 malls, including Mall of the Emirates in Dubai and the Mall of Egypt in Cairo.
It also has the exclusive license to operate hypermarkets for French company Carrefour across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
His son Tariq sits on the board while non-family members manage the conglomerate, which publishes its revenues and profits annually.
The group had $8 billion in revenues and $760 million in profits in 2016.

Middle East retail king M.A. Yusuff Ali presides over $8.1 billion (revenue) LuLu Group, with 152 stores in the Gulf region and elsewhere.
Hailing from a village in Kerala state in south India, Yusuff Ali left for Abu Dhabi in 1973 to join his uncle’s small distribution business.
Yusuff Ali is investing back home in a big way, earmarking more than $2 billion to build hotels, malls and convention centers, among much else.
After floods hit his native Kerala state in August 2018, he donated $2.6 million towards

Abdulla Al Ghurair founded Mashreq bank in 1967, one of the U.A.E.’s leading banks. He remains chairman and his son Abdul Aziz is CEO.
His eponymous holding company has interests in food, construction and real estate; a non-family member is the group CEO.
Al Ghurair Foods claims to have the biggest pasta factory in the Middle East. Its pasta products are sold under the Jenan brand.
His construction company did the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and helped build the Dubai Metro.