We present the region’s most influential expats
Follow us on
Most Powerful Expats 2010
Head of Strategy, ADIA
As the strategic mastermind behind the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Villain helps manage the spending of the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund. Last year’s number one, this French expat helps control assets of around $500bn to $700bn.
4. ( New entry) Professor Choon Fong Shih
Founding President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Widely recognised global leader in academic and corporate scientific research, Singapore-born Professor Shih’s position is helping to redefine opportunities for women in the kingdom.
5. (New entry) David Kultgen
Only the second general counsel in Saudi Aramco’s history, US-born David Kultgen commands considerable respect in the company’s Dhahran and Riyadh corridors of power. He took over as general counsel and corporate secretary of the world’s biggest oil company in January this year.
6. (New entry) Edward Borgerding
Boss of diversified media conglomerate Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), Borgerding has launched the National newspaper and has a series of multi-million-dollar deals to his name, including signing up the rights to the new English Premier League football season. (ITP Images)
7. (19) Mukesh Jagtiani
Chairman, Landmark Group
Billionaire ‘Micky’ is head of the Landmark Group conglomerate, and one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East retail industry. Launched in 1973, it operates 900 stores in fifteen countries and has a turnover of around $3.2bn a year.
8. (3) James Hogan
Since joining Etihad in 2006, James Hogan has effected a startling transformation in the Abu Dhabi carrier’s fortunes to become one of the world’s leading airlines. The Australian confirmed earlier this year that Etihad will break even in 2011, and will fly to every continent by 2015. (ITP Images)
9. (New entry)Tony Jashanmal
Executive Director, Jashanmal Group
With roots dating back to 1919, ‘Jashanmal’ is a household name across the Middle East. The group began trading in Basra, Iraq, with a single store. Today, executive director Tony Jashanmal leads a UAE-based corporation with multi-channel activities across the GCC and India.
10. (9) Tim Clark
As president of Emirates Airline, Tim Clark reports directly to Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum. With the Dubai giant posting its 22nd year of profit this year, as well as submitting multi-billion-dollar orders for yet more widebody jets, that job might well be easier than it sounds. (Getty Images)
11. (New entry) Yuvraj Narayan
The jewel in the Dubai World crown, DP World has performed well amidst a perfect storm of global recession and the collapse of the worldwide shipping industry. That performance has been due in no small part to CFO Yuvraj Narayan, who has more than 23 years’ experience in the ports and international banking sectors.(ITP Images)
12. (7) David Lesar
Chairman, president and CEO of Halliburton
David Lesar’s decision to open the company’s ‘second headquarters’ in the UAE was attacked by US senators on both sides of the house. But who’s laughing now? Halliburton’s stock performance since the move has been stellar.(Bloomberg Images)
13. (New entry) Yusuff Ali MA
Managing Director, EMKE Group
Best known for its Lulu supermarkets in the UAE, EMKE claims to cater to 32 percent of the total retail market in the GCC and Ali oversees its turnover of $3.1bn and its over 23,000 employees.(ITP Images)
16. (20) Paul Griffiths
Paul Griffiths is the man charged with making sure that by 2030 Dubai is processing 150 million passengers a year, rather than the 40 million it does today. Success will make Dubai far and away the busiest international air hub in the world. The emirate’s launch of Al Maktoum International Airport in June this year has been a big step towards that target. (ITP Images)
17. (New entry) Dr Tidu Maini
Executive Chairman, Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP)
Indian-born Dr Maini has 30 years of experience in the management of technology companies in the defence, electronics, energy and ICT sectors and before moving to Qatar he in 2007 he was pro-rector of the Imperial College London.
18 (5) Rick Pudner
CEO, Emirates NBD
The British head of the biggest banking group in the Middle East in terms of assets has had a tough year. The Dubai-based lender posted a 53 percent decline in second-quarter profit and it is one of the seven largest lenders to the debt-troubled Dubai World.
19. (36) Sunny Varkey
Chairman, GEMS
The epitome of a self-made man, Varkey’s education group, GEMS, has morphed from a single Indian primary school to the biggest provider of K12 education in the world. His company today teaches 100,000 students in 100 schools across 11 countries.(ITP Images)
20. (New entry) P Mohamed Ali
As the founder of Galfar Engineering and Contracting Co, Dr P Mohamed Ali has earned his stripes as one of the Gulf’s leading entrepreneurs. From its start in 1972, the firm has grown into the single largest private sector employer in Oman, with an annual turnover of more than $1bn and more than 27,000 staff.
22. (New entry) Thomas Barry
CEO, Arabtec
Thomas Barry, who took the top spot at Arabtec Construction in February 2009, was given a brief to diversify the giant’s Dubai base and resuscitate its order book. This task Barry has performed with aplomb, landing contracts as far afield as Turkmenistan and Angola. Last month, Arabtec inked an initial $680m deal to build Ras Al Khaimah’s long-delayed La Hoya Bay project.
23. (New entry) Alexej Ogorek
Executive Director, Portfolio Management & Strategic Planning, Mubadala
Abu Dhabi is seeking to diversify its petrodollar-based economy into areas such as aerospace, industry and healthcare. As head of portfolio management at the $13.3bn Mubadala fund, Ogorek decides how much is invested, where and why.(Image supplied)
25. (New entry) Bart Vos
As executive vice president of Qatar Airways commercial arm, Dutchman Bart Vos is responsible for the daily running of a thirteen-year-old carrier with 84 aircraft flying to 92 destinations around the world, a number likely to hit more than 100 in 2011.
26 (12) Peter Kaliaropoulos
CEO, Batelco
Since joining Batelco in June 2005, Kaliaropoulos has set up regional operations in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen and Egypt.
28. (New entry) Kenneth Gile
When he was appointed chief operating officer of flydubai in August 2008, captain Kenneth, or ‘Ken’ Gile brought with him over 25 years of experience working in the low-cost aviation industry.
flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost airline, was established by the Dubai government in March 2008 and made history at the Farnborough Air Show 2008 when it placed an order for 54 Boeing 737-800s, the largest ever such order by a Middle East low-cost carrier.
29 (New entry) Dr BR Shetty
Managing Director & CEO, NMC Group
In 2003, BR Shetty’s NMC Group became the largest hospital chain in the UAE following the acquisition of the National Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Today, it has hospitals and clinics across the emirates and treats more than one million patients a year.(ITP Images)
30. (New entry) Paul Anderson
Paul Anderson is the Brit charged with operating and maintaining Dubai’s metro. Since opening in September 2009 the Arab world’s first driverless train has carried more than 23 million passengers, and it’s all under Anderson’s watch. In fact, the firm has been so successful that it has just taken over management of the Palm Monorail from Nakheel. (ITP Images)
31 (8) Dr Eckart Woertz
Director of Economic Studies, Gulf Research Centre
Dr Eckart Woertz heads the Economic Studies department at the Gulf Research Centre (GRC), Dubai, one of the region’s leading think tanks. (ITP Images)
33. (New entry) Peter Warner
Peter Warner is the CEO of Petrofac Emirates – a 50/50 joint venture between Petrofac International and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala – which specialises in delivering refining and petrochemicals expertise to the UAE. Under his stewardship, the firm has won a series of multi-billion dollar contracts in the country.
34. (16) Gerald Lawless
Executive chairman, Jumeirah Group
Jumeirah Group executive chairman Gerald Lawless has overseen the launch of some of the emirate’s most famous icons, such as the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Burj Al Arab Hotel. (ITP Images)
35 (New entry) Lee Tabler
CEO, TDIC
With more than 27 years experience in international real estate development, Tabler’s career has seen him undertake a series of large-scale projects around the world, following a Masters Degree in urban and regional planning from the American School of Architecture, Fontainebleau, France and another Masters degree in real estate finance.
36. (14)Arif Naqvi
Founder and CEO, Abraaj Capital
As founder of UAE-based Abraaj Capital, Pakistani Arif Masood Naqvi is one of the region’s most respected financiers and the firm has grown to become the largest private equity company in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia with paid-up capital of around $1.5bn.(ITP Images)
37. (26)Jeff Singer
CEO, NASDAQ Dubai
As CEO of international stock exchange NASDAQ Dubai, Harvard-educated Singer has been responsible for overseeing the emirate’s international bourse since 2008, when he was lured to the Middle East from his previous position with the NASDAQ in New York.(ITP Images)
38. (New entry) Paul Kinscherff
As the lynchpin between the world’s largest aerospace company and the world’s fastest-growing aerospace region, Paul Kinscherff has the tough task of fulfilling the many and varied wishes of many of the Gulf’s most important leaders. It’s a part he has played well, earning recognition from many of Boeing’s local partners in the region, such as Mubadala.
40. (25) Sunil John
Founder of PR firm Asda’a Burson-Marsteller, Sunil John has managed the profiles of some of the Gulf’s biggest corporate names. His current client list boasts prominent local and international institutions including Emaar, where he handles the personal PR of chairman Mohammed Alabbar, Etisalat, MH Alshaya Co and the World Economic Forum. (Image supplied)
42. (New entry) Joseph Kilar
President of Real Estate, EEC
Prior to joining EEC, Joseph Kilar was president of RD Olson, a major US contractor based in California. Before that, he served as the regional general manager for Turner Construction Co, also in the US.
44. (New entry) Kadir Gunduz
President, Aujan Industries
With 25 years of experience in the beverage industry in his native Turkey, Gunduz has set Aujan – makes of the popular Vimto drinks brand – an ambitious target of achieving $1bn in sales by 2012 and expanding into emerging markets such as Iraq, India and Egypt.(ITP Images)
45. (50)Colm McLoughlin
Managing Director, Dubai Duty Free
As managing director of one of the most lucrative duty free outfits worldwide, Irishman Colm McLoughlin oversaw record sales of $1.1bn in 2009 and the roll out of operations at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International will see sales double to $2.5bn over the next five to six years.(ITP Images)
46 (29)
Ashish Joshi
Correspondent, Sky News Gulf
British-born Ashish Joshi has been Sky News’ Gulf correspondent, based in Dubai, since February 2009. The position might have initially been viewed as one of the network’s quieter secondments, but Dubai’s rapid growth and its subsequent real estate crash has seen Joshi’s coverage of Dubai’s debt crisis propelled to headline news in the UK.
Paul Koster
47. (New entry)
CEO, Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)
A qualified accountant, the Dutchman worked for Royal Philips Electronics and the Amsterdam Stock Exchange before being appointed to lead the emirate’s financial regulatory body in 2008 at the height of the global credit crisis.(ITP Images)
50. (13) Marc Antoine d’Halluin
Marc Antoine d’Halluin has been credited with the successful creation of Orbit Showtime Network, which resulted from the merger last year between Orbit Communications Co and Showtime Arabia. The French expat has also said that OSN plans to launch a video-on-demand pay-TV service in Saudi Arabia, where cinemas have been banned for the last 30 years.(ITP Images)
