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| Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud |
The Middle East is a region known for its oil-derived wealth.
Some of the region's richest people are familiar figures: Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who's known for his lavish spending, and his involvement in human rights controversies, may come to mind.
Over the
years, the 34-year-old has dropped $500 million on a yacht, $300
million on a French chateau, and $450 million on a Leonardo da Vinci
painting. He controls part of the royal family's fortune that's estimated
at up to $1.4 trillion and includes Saudi Aramco, the most
valuable company in the world.
Despite his
apparently vast wealth, the prince is nowhere to be found on Forbes'
billionaires ranking — because nobody knows just how rich he is. In 2018, Forbes
removed all of the Saudi billionaires that had previously made its 2017
list due to a lack of clarity about the extent of their wealth. There are no
Saudis on Forbes' 2020 billionaires list, but Bloomberg includes three Saudis
on its Billionaires Index.
Based
on their business stand point, here are the wealthiest people in the Middle
East.
We used Cambridge Dictionary's definition for the region, which encompasses 16 countries: Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Jordan, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Egypt.
1. Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud
Country:
Saudi
Arabia
Net
worth: $14.3 billion
Age:
65
Source
of wealth: diversified
The Saudi prince is the founder of Kingdom Holding, which has stakes in
real estate, hotels, and equities.
2. Eyal Ofer
Country: Israel
Net worth: $9.92
billion
Age: 70
Source of wealth: real
estate, shipping
Ofer controls a shipping and real estate empire through his Monaco-based
Ofer Global.
3. Mohammed Al-Amoudi
Country: Saudi Arabia
Net worth: $8.95
billion
Age: 74
Source of wealth: energy
Al-Amoudi controls Preem, Sweden's largest oil refiner.
4. John Fredriksen
Country: Cyprus
Net worth: $7.65
billion
Age: 75
Source of wealth:
shipping
Fredriksen holds stakes in publicly traded shipping companies that
operate a fleet of ships and oil tankers.
5. Mohamed Al Jaber
Net worth: $7.19
billion
Age: unknown
Source of wealth: retail
Al Jaber is the founder of a London-based hotel, food, and real-estate
company that owns more than 50 properties in the UK, France, Egypt, Austria,
and Portugal.
6. Stef Wertheimer and family
Net worth: $6.2
billion
Age: 94
Source of wealth: metalworking
tools
7. Majid Al Futtaim
Country: United Arab
Emirates
Net worth: $5.97
billion
Age: unknown
Source of wealth: real
estate
Al Futtaim's Dubai-based real estate and retail company owns shopping
malls and hotels in the Middle East, Pakistan, Georgia, and Armenia.
8. Nassef Sawiris
Country: Egypt
Net worth:
$5.58 billion
Age: 59
Source of wealth: industrial
Nassef Sawiris, CEO, Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E.
9. M.A. Yusuff Ali
Net
worth: $5.27
Age: 64
Source
of wealth: food and beverage,
hotels
Yusuff Ali runs LuLu Group International, which operates supermarkets,
shopping malls, and hotels in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the UK. He also
franchises the Famous Daves BBQ chain in the Middle East.
10. Murat Ulker
Country: Turkey
Net worth: $5
billion
Age: 61
Source of wealth: food
Ulker runs Yildiz Holding, which produces a range of food products and
non-alcoholic beverages.
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