American business magazine Forbes released its annual billionaire ranking featuring the richest Arab billionaires in 2019.
Comprising six Egyptians among 25 Arab billionaires, the list profiles Nassef Sawiris as the world’s richest Arab for the second consecutive year.
The Forbes Billionaires list is known as a snapshot of notable billionaires’ wealth. It differs every year as individuals become richer or poorer.
Like last year, the list did not include any Saudi billionaires.
Fawzi Al-Kharafi, Mohannad Al-Kharafi and Bassam Al-Ghanim from Kuwait as well as Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, who were all listed on 2018 ranking, have been excluded from this year’s list.
Such drop-offs made the total wealth of this year’s Arab billionaires lower than last year’s by $19.1 billion, settling at $59.8 rather than $76.7.
Lebanon and the UAE were the countries represented most frequently in the 2018 Arab list, with seven billionaires each. Egypt followed with six billionaires.
With seven billionaires listed, UAE was the most represented country in this year’s ranking while Egypt came second with six billionaires.
UAE billionaire Majid Al Futtaim’s net worth increased by half a billion over the past year, now at $5.1 billion.
Richest Middle East billionaires 2019
The Forbes list profiled the Arab billionaires from most to least wealthy.
Coming on the top of the list with net worth $6.4, Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris works in chemicals as well as construction.
UAE billionaire Majid Al-Futtaim is second on the list with net worth $5.1. Al-Futtaim’s business is based in real estate.
UAE billionaire M.A. Yusuff Ali is third on the list with net worth $4.7. Ali’s business is based in the retail sector.
UAE billionaire Abdulla bin Ahmad Al-Ghurair is fourth on the list with net worth $4.6. Al-Ghurair’s business is based in diverse sectors.
Indian Emerati billionaire Micky Jagtiani is fifth on the list with net worth $4.1. His business is based in food.
Indian Emerati Ravi Pillai is sixth on the list with net worth $3.9. His business is based in construction.
Algerian billionaire Issad Rebrab is seventh on the list with net worth $3.7. His business is based in retail.
Omani billionaire Suhail Bahwan is eighth on the list with net worth $3.2. His business is based in diverse sectors.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is ninth on the list with net worth $2.9. His business is based in telecom.
Finally, Indian billionaire B. R. Shetty is tenth on the list with net worth $2.9. His business is based in healthcare in Abu Dhabi.
