World’s 50 richest Arabs worth $245bn, up 18%

By Staff writer
  • Sunday, 19 December 2010 7:48 AM
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The world’s 50 richest Arabs are worth a total of just over $245bn, an 18 percent increase on the same figure just over a year ago 

The world’s 50 richest Arabs are worth a total of just over $245bn, an 18 percent increase on the same figure just over a year ago 

The world’s 50 richest Arabs are worth a total of just over $245bn, an 18 percent increase on the same figure just over a year ago, the Arabian Business Rich List 2010 reveals. 

Top of the list is Kingdom Holding chairman Prince Alwaleed, who has $20.4bn – a figure that has been verified by his private office.

Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber retains second place on the list after increasing his wealth from $9.7bn to $12bn over the course of the last year.

The Olayan family has jumped five places to claim the third spot, with $11.9bn, pipping Mohammad Al Amoudi in fourth.

Last year’s third-richest person, Nasser Al Kharafi, drops to sixth place.

Altogether, the wealth of the top 10 people on our list amounts to just shy of $100bn. This is a 16 percent rise on last year, proving – if anything – that the super-wealthy have no interest in easing back their earnings growth.

This year’s highest new entry was the Bugshan family, which claimed eighth place, while the biggest riser was the Bukhamseen family which jumped from 47th to 25th. 

Once again, Saudi Arabia has by far the biggest number of entries on the list, with the kingdom’s entities taking up the top five places alone.

Altogether, there are 32 Saudi entries on the 2010 list, and of the 24 new entries, 20 of them came from the Gulf’s biggest economy.

The next highest countries to feature are the UAE and Kuwait with four entries, while Egypt has three. Lebanon has two entries, while Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Syria and Kuwait all have one each.

Sadly, Hasib Sabbagh, who featured nineteenth in the 2009 list, passed away in January this year.  

To read the full Arabian Business Rich List 2010, click here

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Please post responsibly. Commenter Rules

Posted by: mariam Sunday, 8 May 2011 6:00 PM[UAE] - Kuwait

Although Nasser Al-Khorafi has dropped to sixth place, he has enough money where his holdings can finance a development project for the country of Kuwait. Possibly a new state of the art National Museum, a New Airport, or a new Cultural Center for the people. Just saying!

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Posted by: qazibasit Sunday, 20 March 2011 11:45 AM[UAE] - KSA

royal families never delay salaries, employees directly hired by them are lucky coz with every event they double or triple the months salary as bonuses. but for those hired through the contractors working for the royals, they obviously mishandle it.

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Posted by: Mohamed Anwar Sadat Friday, 4 February 2011 3:56 PM[UAE] - Malaysia

Forbes list mentions 10 billionaires from Saudi Arabia. AB list tally is over 30. Am I missing something?

Also, some of the billionaires, like Nadhmi Auchi, do not live in the country of citizenship. This should be noted in the AB list.

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Posted by: mourad Tuesday, 4 January 2011 6:22 PM[UAE] - tunisie

Bravo Prince Walid you were the king of business! You have earned it in 2010 and brought your team to victory. Bravo

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Posted by: Paul Wednesday, 22 December 2010 11:25 AM[UAE] - UAE

One wonders how many of these fabulously wealthy people have any staff employed by any of their companies suffering with late salaries, unfit housing, or other forms of exploitation.

Posted by: Naeem Sunday, 26 December 2010 10:28 AM[UAE] - Kuwait

I agree with Paul, there are growing numbers of mistreatment of foreign workers in the Middle East, and abuse of human rights.

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