Top 100 Arab Family Businesses In The Middle East 2020

Family businesses are the backbone of the Middle East’s economies, with some of the largest businesses in the region run by families through private companies.

Most of the companies on our list of the Top 100 Family Businesses In The Middle East have been passed down through at least one generation, with 10 companies more than a century old, and 13 formed between 75 and 100 years ago. In some cases, companies on the list appear younger than they actually are because they have been formed later, due to the splitting of the business between members, or the consolidation of diversified investments into one holding company.

Family businesses have certain advantages. They are able to take a long-term view on business, as they are not answerable to shareholders. They are able to adapt quickly to changes in the business environment, and, more importantly, they tend to diversify. Of the 100 companies on the list, 87 are diversified businesses.

Though diversified, over 80% of these family businesses are agents or dealers for international brands, either in their home countries or across the region. Dealers of international automotive brands, FMCG brands, bottlers and distributors of Coca Cola and Pepsi, and fashion retailers have been particularly successful.

Many family businesses have benefited from doing business with government-owned companies, particularly servicing the top national oil companies. Several founders as well as other members of the family business have held various government positions serving as ministers or mayors, or heading up government departments. Osama Al Zamil of the AlZamil Group is the Deputy Minister of Minerals in Saudi. Obeid Al Tayer of the Al Tayer Group is the U.A.E.’s Minister of State for Financial Affairs. Aziz Akhannouch is the Minister of Agriculture in Morocco.

The Mansour Group tops the list, with three family members on the Forbes’ World’s Billionaires 2020 list. While the group is among the world’s General Motors dealers, it has also made some smart investments in U.S. tech companies like Spotify and Uber. It is followed by the Al Futtaim Group, which owns 100% of Arab Orient Insurance and 50% of Emirates Investment Bank, as well as large auto dealership, real estate, and construction businesses.

With 36 family businesses, Saudi Arabia dominates the list. These businesses have grown with Saudi Arabia, making billions from the prosperity that transformed the country after the drilling of oil began. The U.A.E. follows with 21 entries on the list. Egypt, the region’s most populous country, has only three family businesses on the list, mainly because a large number of large family business were nationalized in the 1950s and 60s.

As most of the large family businesses in the region are reaching the second or third generation, they have begun to change with the times. Many of them are bringing in corporate governance, establishing clear structures, and putting professional managers in place. A few companies have separate family boards and corporate boards, and several have non-family members on their board. Most have a non-family member in the top management team. Many are still focused on traditional business and to a large extent have stayed clear of the tech industry, but while currently successful they will need to transform as tech begins to disrupt industry after industry.

Methodology

We looked at approximately 200 Arab family-owned businesses in the region. We considered:

• Group investments in regional and global stock exchanges and real estate assets.
• Business diversification and the number of sectors in which they have significant operations.
• Types of business activity and to what extent they have been affected by this crisis.
• Number of employees.
• Number of countries they are present in and geographical diversification.
• Date of establishment.

Image	Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Establishment	Chairperson
	1	Mansour Group	Egypt	Diversified	1952	Mohamed, Youssef, Yasseen Mansour
	2	Al-Futtaim Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1930	Abdullah Al Futtaim
	3	Olayan Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1947	Hutham Olayan
	4	Majid Al Futtaim	U.A.E.	Diversified	1992	Michael Rake
	5	Rashed Abdul Rahman Al Rashed & Sons Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1950	Abudlaziz Al Rashed
	6	Abdul Latif Jameel	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1945	Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel
	7	Al-Ghurair	U.A.E.	Diversified	1960	Abdul Aziz Abdulla Al Ghurair
	8	Alghanim Industries	Kuwait	Diversified	1932	Kutayba Y. Alghanim
	9	Al Ghurair Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1960	Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair
	10	Zamil Group Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1920	Khalid A. Al-Zamil
	11	Al Muhaidib Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1943	Sulaiman Al Muhaidib
	12	Yousuf M.A. Naghi & Sons Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1911	Mohammed Yousuf Naghi
	13	Al Nahla Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1996	Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly
	14	Alshaya Group	Kuwait	Retail	1890	Mohammed Al Shaya
	15	E. A. Juffali & Brothers	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1946	Khaled Al Juffali
	16	S.S. Lootah Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1956	Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Lootah
	17	Suhail Bahwan Group	Oman	Diversified	1965	Suhail Bahwan
	18	M.A. Al-Kharafi & Sons	Kuwait	Diversified	1956	Fawzi Al-Kharafi
	19	Morad Yousuf Behbehani Group	Kuwait	Diversified	1935	Ali Morad Behbehani
	20	Sedco Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1976	Saleh Salem Bin Mahfouz
	21	Zubair Corp	Oman	Diversified	1967	Rashad M. Al Zubair
	22	Cevital Group	Algeria	Diversified	1971	Issad Rebrab
	23	Juma Al Majid Holding Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1950	Juma AL Majid
	24	Zahid Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1943	Talal Zahid
	25	AKWA Group	Morocco	Diversified	1959	Aziz Akhannouch
	26	AlFardan Group	Qatar	Diversified	1954	Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan
	27	Saudi Bugshan Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	2000	Khaled Bugshan
	28	Dallah Albaraka Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1969	Abdullah Salah Kamel
	29	Al Fozan Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1959	Abdullah bin Abdul Latif Al Fozan
	30	YK Almoayyed & Sons	Bahrain	Diversified	1940	Farouk Yousuf Almoayyed
	31	Xenel	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1973	Mohamed Zainal Alireza
	32	AW Rostamani Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1954	Khalid Al Rostamani
	33	Saud Bahwan Group	Oman	Diversified	1965	Mohammed Saud Bahwan
	34	BoodaiCorp	Kuwait	Diversified	1955	Jassim Boodai
	35	Easa Al Gurg Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1960	Easa Saleh Al Gurg
	36	Nesma Holding Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1979	Saleh Ali Al-Turki
	37	Al Habtoor Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1970	Khalaf Al Habtoor
	38	FinanceCom	Morocco	Diversified	1977	Othman Benjelloun
	39	Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo	Bahrain	Diversified	1890	Khalid Mohamed Kanoo
	40	Al Faisal Holding	Qatar	Diversified	1964	Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani
	41	Aujan Group Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1905	Abdulla Aujan
	42	Abudawood Group	Saudi Arabia	FMCG	1935	Anas, Ayman Abudawood
	43	Al Naboodah Holding	U.A.E.	Diversified	1958	Abdullah Mohammed Juma Al Naboodah
	44	Al-Qahtani Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1948	Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani
	45	WJ Towell & Co.	Oman	Diversified	1866	Hussain Jawad
	46	Ajlan & Bros.	Saudi Arabia	Textiles	1979	Ajlan Bin Abdulaziz Al Ajlan
	47	Khalifa Juma Al Naboodah Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1963	Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda
	48	AlOthman Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1967	Mohammed Abdullah Al-Othman
	49	Ali & Sons Holding	U.A.E.	Diversified	1979	Ali Bin Khalfan Al Mutawa Al Dhaheri
	50	MASIC	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1933	Ibrahim Alsubeaei
	51	Albwardy Investment	U.A.E.	Diversified	1976	Ali Saeed Juma Albwardy
	52	Ghassan Aboud Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1994	Ghassan Aboud
	53	Obeikan Investment Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1982	Fahd AlObeikan
	54	Al Mulla Group Holding Co	Kuwait	Diversified	1938	Najeeb Al Mulla
	55	Memaar Al Morshedy	Egypt	Real Estate and Construction	1983	Mohamed Morshedy
	56	Mohsin Haider Darwish	Oman	Diversified	1987	Areej Mohsin Darwish
	57	Nuqul Group	Jordan	Diversified	1953	Ghassan Nuqul
	58	Al Sayer Group	Kuwait	Diversified	1954	Faisal Bader Al-Sayer
	59	Sayegh Group	Jordan	Diversified	1932	Michael Sayegh
	60	Sumou Holding Company	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	2008	Ayedh Farahn Al-Qahtani
	61	Marafie Group	Kuwait	Diversified	1919	AbdulIlah Mohamed Rafie Marafie
	62	Batterjee Holding Company	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1982	Mazen Mohammed Ibrahim Batterjee
	63	Zahran Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1975	Ghurmallah Al Zahrani
	64	AlMana Group	Qatar	Diversified	1960	Omar Hamad Almana
	65	Manaseer Group	Jordan	Industrials	1999	Ziad Al Manaseer
	66	Bukhamseen Holding	Kuwait	Diversified	1957	Jawad Ahmed Bukhamseen
	67	Abu Ghazaleh Investments	U.A.E.	Diversified	1970	Amir Abu Ghazaleh
	68	Elaraby Group	Egypt	Manufacturing	1964	Mahmoud Elaraby
	69	Almajdouie Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1965	Ali Almajdouie
	70	Mouawad	Lebanon	Jewelry	1890	Robert Mouawad
	71	Al Nowais Investments	U.A.E.	Diversified	1979	Hussain AlNowais
	72	BinDawood Holding	Saudi Arabia	Retail	1984	Adulrazzaq Bin Dawood
	73	Al Faisaliah Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1971	Abdulrahman Al Abdullah Al Faisal
	74	Abdulla Yousif Fakhro Group	Bahrain	Diversified	1888	Esam Abdulla Fakhro
	75	Marei Bin Mahfouz Group &Co.	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1976	Marie bin Mahfouz
	76	Oasis Investment Company	U.A.E.	Diversified	1971	Abdulla M. Al Shirawi
	77	Alissa Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1940	AbdulMohsen Abdul Latif Al-Issa
	78	Al Fahim Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1958	Ahmed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim
	79	Omar Kassem Alesayi Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1945	Saeed Omar Kassem Alesayi
	80	Al Zayani Investments	Bahrain	Diversified	1977	Nawaf Khalid Al Zayani
	81	Chalhoub Group	U.A.E.	Retail	1955	Michel Chalhoub
	82	El Seif Engineering Contracting Company	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1975	Khaled Musaed El Seif
	83	Diana Holding	Morocco	Food and Beverage	1956	Rita Maria Zniber
	84	Al Tayer Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1979	Obaid Humaid Al Tayer
	85	Arabian Fal Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1979	Saleh Abdullah Al-Sayed
	86	Averda Group	Lebanon	Diversified	1964	Steve Lucas
	87	Alturki Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1975	Khalid Alturki
	88	Holmarcom Group	Morocco	Diversified	1978	Mohamed Hassan Bensalah
	89	Tamimi Group	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1977	Tariq Al Tamimi
	90	Jaidah Group	Qatar	Diversified	1898	Jassim M. Jaidah
	91	Abunayyan Holding	Saudi Arabia	Diversified	1950	Mohammad Abunayyan
	92	Benhamadi Group	Algeria	Manufacturing	1948	Abderrahmane Benhamadi
	93	Gulf Marketing Group	U.A.E.	Diversified	1978	Abdul Aziz Hassan Baker
	94	Kettaneh Group	Lebanon	Diversified	1922	Nabil Kettaneh
	95	Munir Sukhtian Group	Jordan	Diversified	1933	Nidal Sukhtian
	96	Al Muftah Group	Qatar	Diversified	1963	Abdulrehman Muftah Almuftah
	97	MB Holding Company	Oman	Petrochemical	1982	Mohammed Al Barwani
	98	Al Wazzan Group	Kuwait	Diversified	1952	Abdel Rahman Jassim Mohammad Al Wazza
	99	Haji Hassan Group	Bahrain	Diversified	1952	Adel Hassan Al A’ali
	100	Mehri Group	Algeria	Food, Hospitality	1965	Djillali Mehri