Dubai: Four people from the UAE and their families made Forbes Middle East’s list of the world’s top 100 richest Arabs for 2015, which was published on Monday.
The UAE’s Abdulla Bin Ahmad Al Ghurair and family were ranked fourth, with Al Ghurair’s fortune valued at $6.4 billion. The chairman and president of Mashreq Bank was ranked 220 globally in Forbes’ recent 2015 Billionaires list, up from 305 last year.
Majid Al Futtaim ranked 6th with $6.2 billion, Saif Al Ghurair and family were 10th at $3.4 billion, and Abdullah Al Futtaim was ranked 13th with $3.2 billion. In estimating wealth, the list considers publicly held shares recorded as of February 13, 2015. Audited documents and other official, verifiable information that is public or received directly from the source have also been considered.
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud took the top spot, with a fortune valued at $22.6 billion. He was followed by Joseph Safra and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad Al Amoudi.
Saudi Arabia tops the list when considering both volume of entries and total wealth, accounting for 41 out of the top 100 names.
Wealthy Arabs from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria were also ranked in the list.
A newcomer to the list was Robert Mouawad. The Lebanese diamond connoisseur has diversified into real estate and holds an estimated wealth of $1.5 billion.
The world’s top 100 wealthy Arabs had a combined wealth of $174.37 billion, an $8.3 billion increase on 2014, despite falling oil prices, according to a statement from Forbes. The number of billionaires reached 49, four more than last year, with a shared wealth of $155.1 billion, up $7.4 billion over the previous year.
According to Forbes, most of Saudi wealth this year comes from the retail sector, with 14 names that include the country’s biggest gainers for 2015: Fawaz, Abdul Majeed and Salman Alhokair, who have received an estimated $1.4 billion each from their shopping centres and apparel brands.
While there were gainers this year, there were 23 Arab names have witnessed a drop.
Forbes’ Billionaires list featured a total of 1,826 names with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion. Bill Gates topped the list, a position that he has held for 16 years. His fortune is valued at $79.2 billion, up $3.2 billion from last year. Warren Buffet’s wealth was valued at $72.7 billion this year, an increase of $14.5 billion, making him the world’s biggest gainer of 2015.
