JEDDAH, 4 November 2005 — Ten Saudis topped the list of 20 prominent Gulf businessmen published by the French Amwal magazine recently. The magazine said the businessmen, including company chairmen and chief executives, play a major role in taking vital business and investment decisions at regional and international levels.
The top Saudi businessmen in the list were: Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, Suleiman Al-Rajhi, chairman of Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Company, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, chairman of Zamil Group, Muhammad Abdul Latif Jameel, chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and Saleh Kamel, chairman of Dallah Al-Baraka (all in the investment sector).
Other prominent Saudi businessmen listed by the magazine were: Walid Al-Ibrahim, owner of MBC satellite channel (media), Mohamed H. Al-Mady, deputy chairman of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (petrochemicals), Abdallah S. Jum’ah, chief executive of Saudi Aramco (energy), Khaled Al-Mulhem, chief executive of Saudi Telecom (telecommunications) and Lubna Al-Olayan, chief executive of Olayan Finance Company (financing).
Major players from other GCC countries who appeared on the list were: Ahmed Al-Maktoum, chairman of Emirates Airlines (transport), Saad Al-Barak, chairman of MTC, Nasser Al-Khurafi, owner of Khurafi Group, both from Kuwait, Mohammed Al-Gergawi, chief executive of Dubai Holding, Jassem Al-Bahr, a leading real estate businessman and Muhammad Al-Abbar, chairman of Emaar real estate company. The list includes Muhammad ibn Issa Al-Jaber, chairman of MBI International. Amwal International magazine selected the Gulf businessmen based on their activities in six main sectors: Telecommunications, real estate, banking, media, industry and energy. The selection was made considering the market share, capital and market value of their companies, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily said quoting the magazine.
