The Al Rostamanis are one of Dubai’s elite merchant families, but as with most of the wealth in the region, the real money was generated in the last 30 years by patriarchs who came from humble beginnings. In 1954, the two Rostamani brothers followed in the footsteps of their trader father and set up the Al Ahliya Library, Dubai’s first bookshop.
From this seemingly innocuous beginning, the brothers built one of the largest conglomerates in the UAE, comprising 13 different businesses involved in industries ranging from automobile and heavy equipment sales and service to trading, financial services and IT.
With net assets of over US$1bn, the group provides employment to more than 4000 people – and its partners include industry giants such as Suzuki, Renault, Nissan Diesel, Tata, Thomas Cook, Michelin and Castrol. The group also has minority interests in two local banks, an insurance company and a daily newspaper.
Its balance sheet also includes a significant number of international investments, and although the allocation is not disclosed insiders say that these investments constitute a significant portion of its holdings.
The family has also ventured into real estate through KM Holding and its subsidiary KM Properties. This is not a member of Al Rostamani Group, but it has given the family exposure to the region’s red-hot property sector.
To round out the investments with a socially responsible play, the group set up the Emirates Recycling plant, built at a cost of over $17m, which will convert the more than 8 million tonnes of construction waste material generated in Dubai annually into usable road and construction base aggregate.
It is difficult to imagine how this family’s fortune was built with an initial investment of 100 rupees and a lone bookstore – but so go the stories of great family fortunes.
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