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Hello and welcome to the February issue of Arabian Business. The year has gotten o to an excit- ing start here in the Middle East. While the rest of the world appears to grapple with ongoing macroeconomic di - culties, the opportunities continue to arise in the region. Our cover story this month features the enigmatic and successful Alexander Orlov. Co-founder of a restaurant empire, with over 100 outlets in UAE, Russia, Kazakhstan, the USA, Uzbekistan, Monaco and Hong Kong. From Georgian to Greek and Italian to Peruvian, you name it, chances are Orlov has done it somewhere, and done it well. This month features Hisham Mansour, the founder and managing director of retail investment giant CFI Financial. CFI, which has selected Dubai as its global HQ, has had a mete- oric rise in the retail investors space. As technology has dramatically altered the way in which investors can connect with markets, CFI has been able to o er more services to more customers than ever before. As the Middle East has arisen as a global hub for business, likewise CFI has also begun to cater to more in the region. A long-time industry insider, Mansour refers to this change: “It is amazing to see how the Middle East has developed as a market with rapid economic growth and diversification e orts, especially in recent years and particularly looking at countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia.” Check out the full interview in our Leaders supplement. Finally, this month also marks the release of our Dubai 100 list. The list has been compiled by the editorial board of Arabian Business and represents a power ranking of 100 people in the city of Dubai. The list includes some expected, and unex- pected names, and we have chosen to release it in full as a supplement to this issue. Feel free to check out all of the names, and take note of the faces that you need to watch when doing business in Dubai. With that I’ll let you get to reading. Until next time. Everything to play for MATTHEW AMLOT @MatthewAmlot FIRST WORD | Matthew Amlôt, Managing Editor arabianbusiness.com 34 February 2023 DUBAI 100 13 2 4 PAVEL DUROV SIR TIM CLARK MOHAMED ALABBAR Brain surgeon VALIANT CLINIC & HOSPITAL Founder TELEGRAM President EMIRATES Founder and managing director EMAAR/NOON With a net worth valued at $15.1 bn, Durov became known as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg after he launched Vkontakte, Russia’s biggest social network at age . He then launched Telegram in 1 , an instant messaging service/app that supports end-to-end encryption for messages, video, and audio calls. With a reported 7 million active users, it has bypassed Whatsapp usage in Russia, according to Vedo- mosti, accounting for 6 to 8 percent of total traffic exchanged in Russia from the start of . And while Vkon- takte made Durov a wildly popular tech celebrity, it trig- gered friction within the Kremlin. He fled Russia in 1 after refusing to cooper- ate with the Russian secret service to provide encrypted data of his first social network’s users. He shifted himself and Telegram headquarters to Dubai in 17. In early Febru- ary 1, he received UAE citi- zenship, making Durov a citi- zen of four countries. Instrumental in the transformation of Emirates Airline into the global giant that it is today, Clark joined Emir- ates founding team in 1985 as head of Airline Planning, and in , became presi- dent. He is also chairman of the Emirates Airline Foundation. With vast experience in the civil aviation business, he joined British Caledo- nian in 197 , and later held the role of managing direc- tor of Sri Lankan Airlines. In J une , he w a s appointed to the Emirates Board as an independent non-executive director. Under his leadership, in January , Emirates was handed a perfect score for safety standards in IATA test, a rare occurrence in the industry given the complex- ity of airline operations. With this strong audit report, Emirates has demonstrated the excellence of its systems and processes to ensure safe operational practices and the high standards of its modern fleet of Boeing 777s and Airbus A 8 s. A driving force behind Dubai’s economic growth, Alabbar has steered the growth of Emaar Properties, Dubai’s biggest listed property developer by market value, widely recog- nised for Dubai Mall and The Burj Khalifa. With retail busi- nesses that span across over markets around the world, Alabbar has interests in F&B, e-commerce, venture capital, logistics, hospitality, and technology. He is also the chairman of Eagle Hills devel- oper and has steered the region’s F&B sector with Americana. He is behind Noon Food, launched to create a more sustainable ecosystem for businesses and consumers. With the launch of his e-commerce firm noon in 16, Alabbar has collabo- rated with government departments to provide a broad platform for start-ups in Abu Dhabi and Ajman. With the imminent launch of his latest venture Zand, the world’s rst combined digital corporate and retail bank, Alabbar is on a fast track towards the future. Awarded in 15 as one of the UAE’s pioneers, Emirati Dr Al Olama boasts extensive experience in successfully treating brain trauma, brain tumours, spine tumours, and vascular malfor- mations like aneurysms. Recognised for several rsts, he was the rst neurosurgeon to initiate the real usage of ICP monitoring and EVD monitor- ing for head trauma patients; the first neurosurgeon to perform endoscopic surgery in the DHA and foetal surgery for the repair of myelomenin- gocele in the Arab region; and he introduced pentothal anaesthesia for head trauma patients. He also treats infants with hydrocephalus and implants devices like spinal cord stimulator for pain, deep brain stimulator for Parkin- son’s disease and dystonia, and vagus nerve stimulator for epilepsy. As the General Secretary of Arab Paediatric Neurosurgical Society, he holds multiple prestigious positions including the presi- dent of Emirates Society of Neurological Surgeons and the president of Gulf Neurosurgi- cal Society. TECHNOLOGYAVIATIONRETAILHEALTHCARE Dr. MOHAMMAD AL OLAMAarabianbusiness.com 5 DUBAI 100 5 7 6 8 Dr. SULTAN AL NEYADI SUNNY VARKEY HUDA KATTAN Professional mixed martial artist (MMA) UFC UAE astronaut UAE SPACE AGENCY Founder GEMS EDUCATION Founder and chairwoman HUDA BEAUTY Set to blast off with three colleagues on 26 F ebruary at 11.07am, UAE time (sched- uled), on a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the SpaceX/Nasa Crew-6 mission, Dr Al Neyadi is the first Arab astronaut set to travel for a six-month stay on the Inter- national Space Station. With a computer science background, he applied to become an astronaut in 2017 to the U A E’ s space programme. After selection, Dr Al Neyadi and Maj Al Mansouri, a former fighter jet pilot, embarked on their 12-month trainin g in Russia’s Star City to prepare for the country’s first space mission. Both braved long hours of survival training in the harsh winter, mastered the Russian language, and spent hours in gravity simulators. The duo underwent more advanced training at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas from 2020 to early 2022. Their gradu- ation has now qualified them for NASA-led missions to space. Dubai’s education pioneer who has estab lished a global education empire, under Varkey’s leadership, GEMS now owns and oper- ates over sixty schools in the MENA region alone. Today, the group is the largest non-governmental operator of private K-12 schools in the world, boast- ing 140,000 students from 175 countries. Born in Kerala, India, the family moved to Dubai in 1959, and at age four, Varkey moved home to attend boarding school. He returned to Dubai in 1970, by which time his par ents had alr eady launched ‘Our Own English High School.’ He took over the school in 1980 and since then, has never looked back. He established the Varkey Foundation which supports the $1m Global Teacher Prize, widely recognised as the most prestigious prize in education. As a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Varkey has signed up to The Givin g P l edg e, which pledges half of his wealth to charity. An iconic beauty entrepreneur who has smashed social media boundaries, Kattan is best known for founding Huda Beauty in 2013, her billion-dollar cosmetics brand. She also co-founded the fragrance range Kayali in November 2018 and the Wishful Skincare line in 2020. A lifelong passion for beauty led Kattan to enrol at a makeup training school in Los Angeles, cultivating a roster of clientele including A-list celebrities and a royal family. Soon after, Huda set up her beauty b l o g HudaBeauty.com and later launched a YouTube chan- nel, Facebook page and an Instagram account by the same name. The impetus for Huda Beauty came after Kattan and her sisters worked together to create a collec- tion of false eyelashes under the Huda Beauty brand name. As one of the world’s most-followed social media influencers, Huda Beauty was named as the most hyped celebrity brand in 2022 by Cosmetic Business. An Irish professional mix ed martial artist, McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in a boxing bout in 2017 which propelled him to become one of the richest athletes of all time. Over the span of his career, he has competed as a featherweight, light- weight, and welterweight participant. In 2008, he embarked upon his MMA career followed by two big title wins, namely Cage Warriors Featherweight and Light- weight Championships, which he held until he signed with UFC. Known as the biggest pay-per-view draw in MMA history, in July 2021, he lost to Dustin Poir- ier in his fourth UFC fight since 2016 for which he earned a reported $22m. In the process, he suffered a broken tibia and underwent surgery to have it repaired. He is expected to return to action in 2023, but is working with Holly- wood celebrity Jake Gyllen- haal in Amazon Prime’s revisit of the eighties clas- sic, Road House. SCIENCE EDUCATION RETAILSPORT CONOR MCGREGOR6 February 2023 DUBAI 100 9 1011 12 MOHAMMAD A. BAKER GHASSAN ABOUD HUSSAIN SAJWANI Infl uencer and entrepreneur JOELLE GROUP Deputy chairman and CEO GULF MARKETING GROUP (GMG) Founder and chairman GHASSAN ABOUD GROUP (GAG) Founder and chairman DAMAC HOLDING At the helm of his fami- ly-owned company with a forty-year legacy, Baker has been instrumental in transforming GMG to become a leading global company affiliated with the world’s most successful brands in the well-being sector. Transi- tioning from a single Dubai store to a global company that enables well-being through their health, sports, and food divisions, GMG has launched over 1 brands into its markets across the MENA region and Asia. Some of these include home-grown brands such as Sun & Sand Sports, Supercare Pharmacy, Farm Fresh, and more, plus international brands like Nike, Mama Sita’s, amongst others. In October 1, he helped the company embark on a new corporate strategy with a new brand identity and purpose-centric vision. Under Baker’s leadership, GMG has continued to expand its portfolio across 1 countries and over the years, has grown drastically with a potential to reach 7 million consumers. Following his short-lived career in media, in 1994, Aboud recognised the potential for international traders in Dubai with the launch of his trading company. Just around three decades later, his small auto- motive trade venture expanded to become a conglomerate, spanning over 1 countries across several key sectors. Today at the helm of over ,5 employees, his Group is based in Dubai with offices in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Belgium, and Australia across industries spanning retail, hospitality, media, food, digital market- places, automotive, and more. The Group launched Live Point Art Production in 8, followed by Crystalbrook Collection, a hotel develop- ment and management company in Australia, and then Grandiose Supermarket in 1 with hypermarkets, supermarkets, and conveni- ence stores across the UAE. He also steered GAG’s foray into digital ecommerce with its B B marketplace BuyGro launched in in the UAE which integrates over buyers After identifying a gap in the market, Sajwani established DAMAC Properties in which has grown to become one of the region’s largest property development companies with projects in several global cities, includ- ing Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Baghdad, Jeddah, Riyadh, Amman, Doha, and Beirut. DAMAC Properties is a publicly listed company with shares traded on the Dubai Financial Market. In addition to being an evolved investor, Sajwani has robust experience in global equity and capital markets. Estab- lished in 199 , DICO Invest- ments encompasses four key investment areas, including debt instruments issued by regional companies and banks; strategic holdings; long-term investments; and ownership of subsidiaries in growth industries. DICO Group aims to build a diver- sified portfolio across real estate, hospitality and manu- facturing. The group’s global footprint extends across North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa. A TV sho w host, makeup artist, entrepreneur, and founder of beauty company Joelle, Mardinian has built a successful beauty empire and boasts a social media following of over 18 million. She helms Joelle Group, a beauty conglomerate which includes the high-end beauty salon Maison de Joelle, cosmetic clinic Clinica Joelle, skincare brand Joelle Paris, and more recently, a line of coloured lenses, EyeCandy. Born in Lebanon, she later moved to London to study makeup professionally followed by a move to Dubai where she launched her career into television as a sports presenter on the MBC channel. Recognising her talent, the producers o ered her the opportunity to host her own beauty program ‘Beauty with Joelle’. She recently launched a new reality TV show called ‘Joelle Unfil- tered’ on Shahid VIP, which has been four years in the making and scheduled to premiere on 14 February. DIVERSIFIEDDIVERSIFIED REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOELLE MARDINIANarabianbusiness.com 7 DUBAI 100 13141516 COLM MCLOUGHLIN ARIF AMIRI THAKSIN SHINAWATRA CEO NAKHEEL PROPERTIES Executive vice chairman and CEO DUBAI DUTY FREE CEO DIFC Former Thai PM and investor DNANUDGE AND OWLSTONE MEDICAL Raising the bench- mark for the duty- fr ee industry, under McLoughlin’s lead- ership, over the past 40 years, Dubai Duty Free has received over 750 awards, including the title of the ‘Best Duty Free Shopping in the World’ for the 16th consecutive year at the 19th Global Traveler’s GT Tested Reader Survey Awards. It won the award for the ‘Best Duty Free Shopping in the Middle East’ for the fourth time. His career with Dubai Duty Free began as a then-member of the Irish Airport Authority consul- tancy team, then contracted by the Dubai government to launch its new duty-free operations. He remained in Dubai as new operation’s general manager followed by his role as the managing director. In July 2011, McLoughlin was appointed to his current role at Dubai Duty Free and its subsidi- ary businesses; The Irish Village, The Century Village, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium and Jumei- rah Creekside Hotel. Responsible for the strategy and growth of DIFC, under Amiri’s helm, DIFC has become the leading global nancial centre in the MEASA region and a powerhouse for the nancial services sector. He has established an ambi- tious 2024 Strategy to further establish its position as the leading nancial hub for the region. Aligned to the UAE’s commitment to innovation and economic diversifica- tion, Amiri’s vision for DIFC is further developing its fintech proposition and steering multiple initiatives towards the future of nance. Prior to joining DIFC Author- ity, Amiri held multiple posi- tions at Emaar Properties PJSC, where he expanded their portfolio. His previous experience also includes an eight-year term at HSBC Bank Middle East where he developed a deeper under- standing of the financial services sector. He has also contributed to the region’s retail sector as the chairman of the Middle East Investor Relations Society from 2008 to 2011. One of the most in uential leaders in Thai politics, Shinawatra is the first prime minister in the history of Thailand to lead an elected government through a full term in office. H e o wns a controlling stake in prop- erty rm SC Asset and has invested in two health tech startups, DNANudge and Owlstone Medical. Starting his career as a police o cer in Thailand, Shinawatra moved to the US for higher studies. Upon his return, he developed a tel ecommunications empire and went on to launch his Thai Rak Thai party. Popular amongst both the poorer voters and the larger corporates, while he was overseas, the mili- tary seized power. He relo- cated to the UK but returned after his allies won the rst post-coupe, only to return in late 2007. With a new military-backed constitution steering the courts to pursue cases against him and his family, he now resides in Dubai. Playing a pivotal role in realising Dubai’s vision, Atallah has helmed Nakheel to become a world-leading master devel- oper whose iconic projects boast retail, leisure, residen- tial, and hospitality develop- ments and master communi- ties, including International City and Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT). Their largest projects include Palm Jumei- rah, Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta Mall. With over two decades of diverse experience in the real estate sector, previously he held the posi- tion of CEO in India’s Piramal Realty and was also the CEO at Dubai Properties. Here he launched new products and communities w hich increased revenue and brought Dubai Properties back into the limelight. He was also at Emaar as their COO and served as group managing director of Hamp- tons International, the UK based property services of Emaar. As executive director Business Development, Atal- lah led the launch of the world’s first Armani Hotel and Residences. RETAIL FINANCE STARTUP REAL ESTATE NAAMAN ATALLAH8 February 2023 DUBAI 100 17181920 SUNIL KAUSHAL Dr. SHAMSHEER VAYALIL SHAYNE NELSON Infl uencer SELF-EMPLOYED CEO STANDARD CHARTERED AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST (AME) Founder, chairman and managing director VPS HEALTHCARE GROUP Group CEO EMIRATES NBD With the launch of digital banks across nine key markets across Africa, Kaushal has driven the accel- eration of Standard Char- tered’s digital transformation in the AME region. In addi- tion to his current role, he is a member of Standard Char- tered’s Global Management team, the highest executive body within the bank. Previ- ously, he was the regional CEO of Standard Chartered South Asia and CEO in India. With the group for over two decades, Kaushal boasts over three decades of banking experience in diverse markets across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He has held senior roles across wholesale, retail, SME bank- ing and country management within the group. He has served as the head of corpo- rate banking in the UAE, head of originations and client coverage in Singapore, global head small and medium enterprises and new ventures in Singapore and held the role of CEO of Standard Char- tered Bank in Taiwan. Aspired to work on developing medical facilities and enhancing the quality of healthcare in the Middle East, Vayalil launched VPS Healthcare in 7 backed by a vision to deliver affordable, accessible healthcare services to those in need. In just over a decade, VPS Healthcare has transformed into an integrated healthcare network with a presence in the GCC, India, and Europe with operational hospi- tals, 1 , employees, and over 1 5 medical centres. In May , VPS Healthcare consolidated its GCC assets under a new holding company, Burjeel Hold- ings, which will operate around 6 assets across a range of brands. This makes it one of the largest integrated health networks in the region, and will cater to all levels of socio-eco- nomic segments across a range of brands, just some of which include Tajmeel, Medeor Hospital, Burjeel Hospitals, Lifecare Hospi- tal, and LLH Hospital. A seasoned banker with decades of diverse banking experience, Nelson has led Emirates NBD’s market capi- talisation jump from $4. bn to around $ 4.5bn with the acquisition of Turkey’s DenizBank. Under his lead- ership, the bank has witnessed growth with inno- vative technologies and boasts the largest market share in both corporate and retail banking in the UAE. Under his leadership, the bank continues to expand with growth in KSA, Egypt and India. Prior to his current role, he held the role of CEO at Standard Chartered Private Bank in Singapore. He was also the chairman of Standard Chartered Saadiq Islamic Advisory Board and a board member of Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. Other leadership positions include regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Middle East and North Africa in Dubai; chairman of Stand- ard Chartered (Pakistan) Limited, and chairman of the Banking Advisory Council to the Board of DIFC. A celebrated and extremely popular influencer with a gift of storytelling, Al Ameri has evolved into a global phenomenon that has made Dubai proud. Prior to his stardom on social media, he was a public investor with a passion for content creation. He took a leap of faith when he launched his own YouTube channel in 11, focusing on culturally relevant content centred around Middle Eastern topics mostly about family, human interest stories, and his travels. Over the years, Ameri has reinvented himself as an in uencer par excellence, boasting over .4 million followers on Instagram and 1.79 million on YouTube, while his wife Salama Mohamed can be seen regularly in his videos and is his biggest supporter. With hit videos such as ‘Shopping While Married’ and two seasons of ‘The Ramadan Show’, Ameri is the first social media personality to be inducted in the Downtown Dubai Walk of Fame. BANKING AND FINANCE HEALTHCARE BANKING AND FINANCE SOCIAL MEDIA KHALID AL AMERIarabianbusiness.com 9 DUBAI 100 Over the last 26 years, Singh has built numerous companies that have grown signi cantly and created substantial shareholder and stakeholder value. Currently the co-founder and chairman of Hoko Group which consists of several separate entities, each creating their own and distinctive brands and value. Hoko Group has worked with brands such as Alfa Romeo Sauber, McLaren, Micro- soft, OKX, MoneyGram, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism and The Marriott Group, amongst many others. Recently, Singh appreciated the visionary approach of the Middle East. Particularly the Web3 and Blockchain industries which have led to a huge and signi cant growth. Seeing the potential of this growth, Singh has helped bridge the gap between the corporate, governmental and Web3 industries. Providing an environment where people can network, discuss the evolution of the industry and create synergies. Singh has crafted a unique space to enable these ideas to ourish. Singh is no stranger to the concept of bringing di erent worlds together and the power of collaboration and personal experiences. Through another one of his companies, The Rich List, Singh has curated large scale events, globally. Working around the Formula One calendar, The Rich List has created high end, bespoke, luxury experiences for high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients such as the Young Presidents Organisation, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Red Bull, Heineken, Dom Perignon and DP World. Previous attendees and performers at the events have included, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Pharrell Williams, Paris Hilton, Bella Hadid, Craig David, and The Weeknd, amongst others. The coming year looks particularly exciting with enormous scope for expansion. Various projects have already commenced, further cementing and enhancing Singh’s work in the UAE and increasingly in Saudi Arabia. BALLY SINGH MARKETING AND EVENTS Increasing demand for luxury experiences has reached new heights in the region. Hoko continues to strive as industry leaders 26 Bally Singh’s years of experience in developing and staging large-scale entertainment events and global experiential marketing campaigns Co-founder and chairman HOKO GROUP 21Next >