< Previous10 February 2023 DUBAI 100 22232425 AJAZ SHEIKH SULTAN BIN SULAYEM SUNIL KUMAR SEKHARAN Retired boxer AMIR KHAN FOUNDATION CEO THE ARTS CLUB (DUBAI) Group chairman and CEO DP WORLD CEO SPINNEYS An iconic, 59-year-old London institution that blends some of Dubai’s futuristic aspects to create one of the world’s most luxurious private members spaces has been steered by Les Roches alum- nus Sheikh. Launched in December , it had already lled its membership books and now operates a waiting list. In the UAE, The Arts Club opened its doors at ICD Brook eld Place in the Dubai International Finan- cial Centre (DIFC) and is the rst international outpost of The Arts Club in London, which has long been a bastion of the arts, sciences, and literature. O ering a satiable blend of business and leisure spread across four oors, for both the Dubai and London locations, the Clubs are ultra-private and exclusively for members and their guests, with membership based on being proposed, seconded, and then reviewed by an election committee to ensure that there is a region- ally representative commu- nity of individuals. Bin Sulayem’s expertise has spearheaded Dubai’s rapid expan- sion across free zones and ports. He steered leading marine terminal operator DP World’s expansion interna- tionally with the purchase of the P&O Group for $6.8 billion in March 6. This propelled it to become one of the largest global port oper- ators and trade enablers in the world with 78 marine and inland terminals in six conti- nents. He also propelled the rapid development of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) into a business park of over 7 companies, and established Nakheel, the real estate and tourism property develop- ment firm behind many iconic Dubai projects, includ- ing The Palm. He also launched Istithmar World, a major investment house focusing on private equity with a portfolio of invest- ments across retail, tourism, hospitality, and more. He also pioneered the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a market for gold and precious metals, energy, Having joined Spin- neys as a store manager 7 years ago, Sekharan has helped steer Spinneys to remain a leading, locally owned supermarket chain with over 65 stores in the UAE and Oman. He juggled several roles within the chain until 9 when he was appointed in his current role. Of the UAE’s super- market business and an estimated market-share of around 7.5 percent, Spin- neys has retained its fresh food business at 55 percent, as compared to its compet- itors. And as the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excel- lence has revealed that food wastage in the UAE is esti- mated to be . million tonnes, Spinneys is doing its part as the rst retailer to join the ‘Food for Life’ initi- ative. This supports the UAE’s goal to halve food waste by in line with the National Food Security Strategy 5 as the country works towards becoming a global leader in sustainable food systems. Considered one of the UK’s most well- known boxers who embarked on his career at just age 7 and who recently retired at age 5, Khan is a former uni ed world junior welterweight champion known for his fast-handed attacking style. He will be remembered for his multi- ple wins, including his ve-defence reign as world junior welterweight cham- pion from 9 to ; a win in against Marcos Maidana; and his fights with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford, amongst others. He was also the youngest British boxing Olympic medallist at age 7 at the 4 Olym- pics, and at age , became one of the youngest British world champions following his WBA title win. In 4, Khan established his own charity organisation, the Amir Khan Foundation which helps to support individuals, families and communities globally, and to o er relief and support during times of hardship. ARTSLOGISTICSRETAIL PHILANTHROPY AMIR KHANarabianbusiness.com 11 DUBAI 100 Based in Dubai, Khalid Elgibali is responsible for leading the company’s dynamic business across the Middle East and North Africa – driving growth and innovation to meet market-speci c needs, form- ing new partnerships, and delivering on Mastercard’s continued commit- ment to invest in the region. Elgibali has held senior positions at leading nancial institutions including HSBC Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays and Citigroup. He brings a wealth of expe- rience to the role alongside a deep understanding of the region’s economic and corporate landscape. A technology leader focused on the future Since joining Mastercard in 2016, Elgibali has helped reinforce the company’s position as a technology leader and trusted payments advi- sor to regional governments, enabling the successful execution of national-level programs that support their digital agendas and long- term visions. From driving commercial growth through diversi cation of reve- nue streams, pioneering cutting edge technology solutions and build- ing strategic partnerships with the region’s leading public and private stakeholders, Elgibali is on a mission to create a future-ready digital ecosystem through innovations in payments. Most recently, Mastercard played a key role as a premier sponsor of Expo 2020 Dubai, rolled out its multi-rail strategy across key MENA markets, forged several government partnerships to drive nancial inclusion and digital transformation, and empowered small businesses with key insights, funding, products and technology required during the Covid-19 pandemic under Elgibali’s leadership. A polyglot uent in six languages, including Arabic, English, French, Russian, Italian and Portuguese, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Econom- ics from the American University in Cairo and attained his MBA from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Glasgow, Scotland. KHALID ELGIBALI TECHNOLOGY As Dubai continues to embrace the power of technology in fostering business growth and sustainability, Mastercard is supporting our government partners in this dynamic journey 210 The number of countries and territories in which Mastercard operates DIVISION PRESIDENT – MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA MASTERCARD 2612 February 2023 DUBAI 100 Steering the success of Emami and transforming it into one of India’s fastest growing health- care and personal care companies in the international markets, Prashant is driven by a vision to amplify safe and natural personal care brands. Today, Emami boasts an enviable portfolio of over products under many brands like Creme , Navratna, Kesh King, 7 Oils in One, Boroplus, Smart & Handsome, Zandu etc. The company has established a reputation for creating product categories from scratch and carving out a dispropor- tionate share of those categories in the personal care and healthcare segments. With current international operations spanning over 65 countries, headquartered in UAE, Prashant has spearheaded the business, turbo- charged growth and constantly focused on innovation in Middle East, Russia, South East Asia. Under his leadership, Emami has established its o ces and manufacturing in multiple international locations. Multiplying the organisation’s revenues by multiple-fold, Prashant led the acquisition of the iconic German brand previously owned by Henkel, Creme , with a high equity in the skincare industry for over 5 years. More importantly, it was Prashant’s longstanding pledge to champion inclusion and diversity and to also adapt to international culture. Delivering extraordinary results, Prashant is a resourceful solutions provider, brave and displaying passion and integrity in the building of successful brands within the global marketplace. Prashant is active across key chambers and professional organisations and ex city chap- ter chair of the Young President Organisation; YPO. As one of the successful Indian business leaders in this part of the world, he believes the best is yet to come. He lives by the mantra of dreaming big, continuous learning and constantly moving forward. In that process, he acknowledges it’s alright to fail, but rise up with such a spring and an attitude that tomorrow is ours to win. PRASHANT GOENKA FMCG We treaded beyond our comfort zone to be fearless and take larger strides whilst aligned to our corporate goals 300+ The number of consumer products under the Emami portfolio. The company also acquired Creme21, a 50-year-old heritage brand with high equity in skincare Director EMAMI 27arabianbusiness.com 13 DUBAI 100 28293031 RENUKA JAGTIANI IAN JOHNSTON SAYGIN YALCIN Group CEO GHASSAN ABOUD GROUP (GAG) Chairwoman LANDMARK GROUP CEO DFSA Founder and CEO SELLANYCAR.COM & CARNAB.COM A group that has trans- formed the retail sector in Dubai, growing from a single store in Bahrain in 1973 to now over 2,200 retail outlets, Jagtiani has been pivotal in guiding the group’s corpo- rate strategy for over two decades. She helped to grow the fashion and hospitality businesses for the group in the MENA region and the Indian subcontinent, and as a cornerstone of the group’s journey, has been instru- mental in creating the high- street fashion brand Splash in 1993. Under her leader- ship, the group forayed into ecommerce and invested in the MENA region’s largest privately-owned logistics and distribution hub, with a vision to reach its custom- ers, irrespective of where they shop. Recently in Q3 2022, Landmark Group appointed Kabir Lumba as the new CEO for Landmark Retail while Jagtiani will remain actively involved in the business and will focus on bolstering the strategy, vision, and strengthening governance. Backed by a wealth of advisory experience, prior to his current role, Johnston was consulting to regulators and policy makers in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and has undertaken projects funded by the World Bank and the European Bank of Recon- struction and Development. The DFSA, the independent regulator of nancial services conducted in and from DIFC, have re-appointed Johnston, who served as the DFSA’s chief executive from 2012 to 2018, to his new role from 1 September 2022. And since January 2022, Johnston has also served on the DFSA’s Legislative Committee. He had previously joined the DFSA in the role of managing director, leading the Policy and Legal Services Division. Prior to his current role, Johnston joined the Austral- ian Securities and Invest- ments Commission as the executive director of Finan- cial Services Regulation. This followed his role as a special advisor with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC). A serial tech entre- preneur behind the largest used car portal in the GCC, during a visit to Dubai, Yalcin observed a gap in the UAE’s e-commerce space. This prompted his move to Dubai at age 24, and in 2009, he launched Sukar. com, an online fashion store later acquired by Souq.com and then by Amazon. The idea for his business came while he tried to sell his car on the classi eds which involved a time-consuming process. After diligent market research, Yalcin launched his portal SellAnyCar.com which o ered to purchase any seller’s car for a fair price in under 30 minutes. His team next developed a digital marketplace that hosts over 25,000 compa- nies for bidding on cars bought by SellAnyCar.com. His success was followed by the launch of Carnab.com, another platform which sells second-hand cars to consumers online. In Dubai, Yalcin is a keen investor in new companies. Having played key strategic roles with the region’s fore- most business conglomer- ates for over two decades, Vaidhyanathan is an accom- plished business leader with a wealth of experience span- ning over multiple countries in the MENA region across multiple business sectors. In his current role, he steers growth across a portfolio of businesses which include healthcare, retail, food, auto- motive, logistics, eB2B digital platforms, and hospitality. Not only has he steered the conceptualisation of the group’s collaborative ventures with Global Auto Hub, Abu Dhabi as public private partnership projects, and the AD Ports Group to develop Abu Dhabi Food Hub KEZAD but has taken the Group’s digital transforma- tion on an upward trajectory with the launch of digital platforms and other upcom- ing transformative projects. A few of their key businesses include an automotive busi- ness platform; hospitality brand Crystalbrook Collec- tion; and BuyGro. RETAIL FINANCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP DIVERSIFIED SURESH VAIDHYANATHAN14 February 2023 DUBAI 100 32333435 MISHAL HAMED KANOO ALEX ALEXANDROV SUNIL JOHN CEO SAUDI GERMAN HOSPITALS GROUP (SGHG) Chairman KANOO GROUP Co-founder VELAS Founder ASDA’A BCW Spearheading one of the largest, family-owned independent group of companies in the GCC region, Kanoo is recognised as one of the most iconic business figures in the Middle East. He plays an inte- gral role in the Group which has diversified interests in shipping, travel, machinery, logistics, oil and gas, power, chemicals, JVs, retail, and commercial activities, among others. In 99 , Kanoo joined the family rm immediately after university in the role of assistant shipping manager. To pursue higher studies, he left the business to attend the American University of Sharjah (AUS) for his second MBA. He also worked as an auditor at Arthur Andersen in Dubai prior to re-joining the Group in 997 in the role of deputy chairman, followed by his appointment to his current role in 5. A frequent speaker at confer- ences around the world, Kanoo is a visiting lecturer at the AUS School of Business Administration. Co-founded with Farkhad Shaguly- amov, Ukrainian Canadian Alexandrov took a leap of faith on cryptocur- rency in when discov- ered Bitcoin and started mining it at a mere $ per token. A struggling building manager at the time, he launched Velas, an ecosystem of decentralised products which enable blockchain technology benefits and allows for a high speed and low-cost withdrawal of funds from other blockchains. An early adopter of the crypto- currency wave, in 6, he went on to launch Coinpay- ments, the largest altcoin payment processor that has expanded tenfold per year, with over three million total users, accepting over , 95 di erent kinds of cryptocur- rencies, used by over 7 , merchants worldwide. Now delving into the social media sector fuelled by his passion for music, Alexandrov has launched BitOrbit, a decen- tralised social media plat- form where users can share content free of cost or o er it under paid subscriptions, including music. At the heart of the media and commu- nications business in the Middle East for over 5 years, John has led ASDA’A to become the benchmark PR consultancy in the Arab world. In 8, after WPP Group acquired a majority stake, he relaunched the firm as ASDA’A BCW. During the pandemic, he steered the firm through a strategic reset to make ASDA’A BCW and its o erings agile and relevant to the changed landscape. He also spear- headed the annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey in 8, which became glob- ally recognised, widely cited pieces of public opin- ion research by media and policymakers. He has embraced a digital-first mind-set while delivering integrated and creative communications through ASDA’A BCW’s Power of Three, namely integrating data and digital into PR through two fully owned subsidiaries: PSB Middle East for research and Proof Communications for digi- tal, social and design. With over two decades of expe- rience in the field of healthcare, in her current role since , Dr Osman has managed to establish a rm foothold for SGHG Dubai in the Middle East’s burgeoning health- care industry. As Jeddah’s rst hospital built in 988 by medical pioneers in KSA, SGHG was founded by the Batterjee family under Bait Al Batterjee Medical Co, in collaboration with German University Hospitals. This launched advanced German healthcare standards and expertise to KSA’s commu- nity for the rst time. With three hospitals spread across Dubai, Shar- jah, and Ajman alongside clinics in Jumeirah, DAMAC Hills, and DAMAC Hills , in February , SGHG announced plans to construct a -bed hospi- tal in Mirdif, Dubai, which will be built at an estimated value of $ m. Scheduled to open in , SGHG Mirdif will provide the latest digital expertise and tech- nology to boost the patient health experience. DIVERSIFIED FINTECH MEDIA AND MARKETING HEALTHCARE Dr. REEM OSMANarabianbusiness.com 15 DUBAI 100 36373839 HIND ABDUL HAMIED SEDDIQI MICHAEL LAHYANI DR SANJAY PARASHAR Infl uencer SELF-EMPLOYED Chief marketing and communications offi cer SEDDIQI HOLDING Founder and CEO PROPERTY FINDER Chairman Consultant Plastic Surgeon COCOONA CENTRES The director general of Dubai Watch Week, Seddiqi played a pivotal role in its launch which has succeeded in drawing the leading talents of watchmaking to converge in the Middle East for the unique non-commercially driven networking event. The granddaughter of the founder of Ahmed Seddiqi and Sons, the largest watch retailer in the UAE, with 51 locations and growing, the company repre- sents more than 60 luxury timepieces and jewellery brands. Within the group, she is responsible for devel- oping integrated marketing strategies for each business unit in addition to their inter- nal and external executive communication plans and strategies. She also heads the Customer Experience (CX) communications for all busi- ness units, including Seddiqi Properties. She is also actively involved in the conceptualis- ation and implementation of corporate and communica- tions strategies across their business portfolio. The man behind the largest and number one property plat- form in the Middle East, boasting over 100,000 prop- erties available online, Lahy- ani initially worked with PwC in Geneva, Switzerland. After he identified a gap in the property advertising space in Dubai, he launched the Middle East’s rst real estate classi eds, both online and print. While Australia’s REA Group acquired 51 percent of property nder.ae in 2007, he re-bought back REA Group’s stake and now owns one hundred percent of the company. After a Swedish tech investor funded the company with $20m in 2015, its value skyrocketed to $200m, followed by General Atlantic’s investment of $120m in November 2018. Soon after, the company acquired JRD Group, a UAE-based real estate tech- nology provider and owner of Justproperty.com as well as Propspace. Also a keen inves- tor in startup technology companies, La yhani co-founded Merro, his own investment platform. Practicing for over three decades and among the busiest surgeons in the UAE, Dr Parashar moved from Australia to Dubai in 2005 with the dream to make Dubai the Beverly Hills of the Middle East and become one of the best plastic surgeons in the world. Today, he is also the founder of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeons by Cocoona and operates a skin care range, Skin by Cocoona and Topline, a medical software and IT systems company. He has performed over 15,000 surgeries, including abdominoplasty, rhino- plasty, liposuction, and more. Having worked at leading institutes in the US, Bahrain, South Korea, and Bahrain, Dr Parashar has spent multiple years work- ing with and learning from some of the world’s best plastic surgeons, including Dr Ashok Gupta, Prof. David David, Dr Tony Moore, and more, to help him to re ne his skills in laser surgery, craniofacial surgery, and aesthetic surgery. A w ell-kno wn YouTuber known for his ultra- luxu- rious life, Belhasa, or Money Kicks, became famous and successful at a very young age with a phenomenal number of Instagram and YouTube fans. He launched his YouTube channel in June 2013, and in 2015 and began posting videos called ‘Money Kicks’ about his high-end lifestyle and legendary sneaker collec- tion, which helped him gain over 50,000 subscribers from around the world. The game changed for him when he posted a video with the famous rapper Young Thug on YouTube which surged his popular- ity. With 2.2 million follow- ers on Instagram and 3 million on YouTube, Money Kicks has been a part of music videos with Mo Vlogs, Dyler, and others. With a large sneakers collection valued at over $2 million, he is actively followed for his posts about his expensive cars and pricey shoes. RETAIL REAL ESTATE HEALTHCARE SOCIAL MEDIA RASHED BELHASA16 February 2023 DUBAI 100 40414243 RONALDO MOUCHAWAR SADI AL SADI TIMOTHY KELLY CEO BPG CEO and co-founder/ vice president VP Middle East and Africa AMAZON CEO SLIMSTOCK MEA Managing director and executive vice president ATLANTIS THE PALM & CARNAB.COM An ingenious tech entrepreneur who led ecommerce giant Amazon to become the largest digital retailer in the region, after graduating, Mouchawar started his career at information tech- nology firm EDS in image processing and video scan- ning for car manufacturers, healthcare organisations and publishing companies. As the web started gaining traction in the US in the early s, he returned to the Middle East and created an Arabic language portal Maktoob, the rst success- ful web portal in the Middle East. He went on to create a commerce site with its own brand identity and in , co-founded Souq.com, setting up o ces in Dubai. The brand expanded to become the largest e-com- merce retailer in the region but was later bought by e-commerce giant Amazon for a record-breaking $58 m. Subsequently, Mouchawar was then appointed as the vice pres- ident in 7 of Amazon in the region. Since October 7, Sadi Al Sadi H. has been at the helm of Slimstock, the leading inventory management specialist that enhances supply chain performance through its cutting-edge inventory optimisation platform, Slim4. An intelli- gent inventory management software powered by AI and machine learning, Slim- stock o ers an entire suite of solutions for supply chain optimisation. The brand is committed to optimizing its client’s operations by constantly enhancing Slim- stock’s software which provides forecasting, demand planning, collabo- ration and more to help businesses overcome their supply chain obstacles. Backed by experience across corporate structur- ing, nancial management, operational management, and business development, he is an expert in directing and nourishing Middle East- ern corporate and govern- mental relations. He is also the co-founder and the chairman of Break & Entry. Inculcating a people- over-profit business philosophy, Kelly is at the helm of Atlantis The Palm’s record of boasting the highest resort total revenue and the highest room revenue in October . He also helmed the expansion of the world’s biggest waterpark, Aqua- venture, with the addition of 8 new attractions. He also steered the success of the brand’s famed F&B concepts, with over two million diners’ in as the brand launched its Atlantis Atlas project, which introduced several new marine projects and locally sourced menus. The end of saw the glittering launch of Atlantis The Royal, with 795 rooms and 44 suites, alongside 8 key restaurants, including a world-first beach and pool club by Nobu. Just adjacent to the original Atlantis, Atlantis Royal is already considered as the world’s best hotel for visi- tors looking to document their visit to Dubai on social media. With over 5 years of experience across education, media, marketing services, private equity, government sectors, and real estate direct invest- ments, Bhojani has been at the helm of BPG since 99 . In the MENA region, he steers company interests across design, public relations, advertising, digital verticals, activation, and media asset management. With a rich three decades history, BPG . launched in 995 after bagging a mandate to build and execute the Dubai Shop- ping Festival from the Dubai government, followed by BPG . after winning mandates for public advocacy in Iraq, while BPG . arrived after a key gain in KSA. Big wins in include a remit from Jumeirah Group; Titan Eyewear; Assima Hospital; Ooredoo Telecom; and the Zayed Sustainability Prize in the UAE. The brand has launched its virtual head- quarters, BPGverse, an in-house digital reality space for interactions and engage- ment between agency teams, clients, and brands. ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY HOSPITALITY MEDIA AND MARKETING AVI BHOJANIarabianbusiness.com 17 DUBAI 100 Amongst his many achievements at Eltizam, Roberts’ inclusive leadership brought about fundamental changes within the Group, setting in motion a relentless upward trajectory. When Roberts joined in 2014 as Group CEO, the company consisted of one business operating one contract with 150 employees. Under his vision, today Eltizam has a footprint across six countries with over eight business entities, employing over 6,500 sta across 30 nationalities and witness- ing c.70 percent+ growth in 2022. Steering Eltizam’s strategic restructuring in 2021, Roberts estab- lished four holding companies within the Group, namely EAMG Hold- ings, iFM Holdings, iREC Holdings and EAST-O Holdings to further focus onto strategic markets and business lines. He also led successful acquisitions of several companies, including OrionTEK Innovations, Fixis Technical Services, King eld Owners Association Management and Falcon Investments (the a liate partner that has traded as Colliers in the MENA region since 1995). In the same year, Eltizam expanded its operations into Egypt with plans to further extend its reach to nine countries by the end of 2023. As an experienced corporate leader, Roberts believes that it has become essential to develop formalised structures and programmes to instil the right corporate culture, measure its e ectiveness, create feedback loops, listen, learn and adjust. He did this by forming Get Wonky in 2019, Eltizam’s company culture programme which comprises four pillars, ESG, Happiness, People Development and Technology; which ensure that the corporate culture is clear and measurable through quantitative and qualitative sta surveys and anecdotal interactions. Roberts embodies over two decades of exemplary professional experience from the UK and Middle East. In each of his previous roles across distinguished organisations, he has developed systems, change management strategies and mechanisms for individual and global clients in both operations and business development. CHRIS ROBERTS ASSET MANAGEMENT Roberts has developed systems, change management strategies and mechanisms for individual and global clients in both operations and business development 6,500 The number of staff from 30 nationalities employed by Eltizam Asset Management Group CEO ELTIZAM ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP 4418 February 2023 DUBAI 100 45464748 AHMED ISMAIL FARAZ KHALID MAAZ SHEIKH COO AL JABER GROUP CEO MAF HOLDINGS CEO NOON.COM CEO STARZPLAY Taking over the helm from Alain Bejjani, Ismail held the role of CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties since and was responsible for the Group’s hotels, project management operations, malls, and communities. Previously, he held the role of VP Strategy of MAF Hold- ing and as the CEO of MAF Ventures. Committed to creating a customer-centric strat- egy, MAF reported a steady economic recovery in the regional retail and leisure sectors with H reve- nue reported at $4.9 bn, up 5 percent from . MAF recently launched its rst rescue food program ‘Feed the Future’ at Mall of the Emirates, which focuses on recovering edible food from the food court, workforce catering, and restaurants in the mall for repurposing to the community. In a part- nership with technology platform Replate, mall vendors can schedule, manage donations, and coordinate pickups with the UAE Food Bank, which oversee the distributions. Previously the co-founder and managing director of Namshi, Khalid’s wealth of experience and practical knowledge in building, launching, and scaling successful e-commerce enterprises in the region gives him the edge to lead noon.com towards further growth and expansion in the region. A joint venture between the KSA’s Public Investment Fund and Mohamed Alabbar. noon’s consumer platform rst went live in 7 in KSA. An ecosys- tem of homegrown digital companies from the region, noon.com is a pioneer in the region’s digital landscape that has now grown to transform into the region’s leading online shopping destination with operations in the UAE, KSA, and Egypt. As it looks to grow its e-commerce posi- tion, noon.com is building the UAE’s largest fulfilment centre in Abu Dhabi, in a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO). The 5 ,m facil- ity will be in KEZAD and is predicted to create 6, new jobs. The pioneer behind the UAE’s own localised Netflix, Starzplay Arabia was co-founded by Sheikh, Danny Bates, Khaled Benchouche, and Karin Bagg- strom as a subscription video- on-demand streaming service. With movies, documentaries, TV shows, and Arabic content streamed in four languages across the MENA region and Pakistan, Starzplay Arabia has over . million subscribers. Partnering with global studios, including Warner Bros, Universal, Discovery, th Century Studios, and more, Starzplay raised over $ 5 million in funding from Lions- gate, State Street Capital Group, and SEQ Capital and secured its rst independent debt nancing of $ 5m from Abu Dhabi-based Ruya Part- ners in . As the Middle East’s fastest-growing video streaming service, Starzplay Arabia platform’s number of subscribers reached . million, an increase of percent. Having already signed a partnership with online fash- ion retailer Namshi, a Starzplay subscription is o ered to their VIP customers as a value- added service. Akey player steering the development of the UAE’s construction industry, Al Jaber is shattering traditional male domination of the building industry in this region. In her current role at her family’s business since 7, she has presided over the success of multiple key UAE based construction projects. She has also held several roles in the Abu Dhabi munic- ipal government in various positions, and in 9, Al Jaber went on to become the rst Emirati woman elected to the board of directors at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. An engineer by training, she oversees approx- imately $5bn in assets and 5 , workers. Her key responsibilities include logis- tics, overseeing the manage- ment of contracting, trading, industrial, investment and real estate subsidiaries. On Al Jaber Group’s board as an executive director, she is also on the boards of Abu Dhabi Takaful Company and the National Investor. DIVERSIFIEDECOMMERCE MEDIA CONSTRUCTION FATIMA OBAID AL JABERarabianbusiness.com 19 DUBAI 100 49505152 ROBERT BOOTH ALEXANDER ORLOV ADEL ABDULLAH ALI Chairperson and managing director EASA SALEH AL GURG GROUP (ESAG) Co-founder and managing director ELLINGTON PROPERTIES Co-founder FUNDAMENTAL HOSPITALITY CEO AIR ARABIA A property veteran who has dev el oped, marketed, and sold some of the world’s largest projects across five conti- nents, Booth forayed into property development in his native Canada where he devel- oped the country’s largest master-planned urban community, Vancouver’s Concord Pacific Place. This was followed by a role as director of development in Concord Adex Developments Corporations where he led a Toronto based $2bn develop- ment scheme. In 2001, he moved to Dubai and joined Emaar Properties PJSC, appointed across several senior roles, where he steered the development and success of Emirates Hills, The Greens, The Dubai Marina, and Arabian Ranches, which added around 40,000 residential units onto the market. His flagship achievement was Downtown Dubai project where Booth managed multi- ple tasks, from launching the hotel to the key retail, hotel, and residential aspects; he still maintains his role at Emaar as advisor to the chairman. Behind some of Dubai’s most iconic restaurants includ- ing Cipriani, Scalini, Gaia, Shanghai Me, Izu Burger, NYX, 1 OAK Dubai, BASE, Piatti, La Maison Ani, and more, Orlov has always been involved in business from an early age. He launched his first restaurant at the age of 27 and has been on an upward trajectory for the past 20 years. Today, Fundamental Hospitality, a leading invest- ment and brand manage- ment company that devel- ops, owns and operates hospitality, entertainment and F&B concepts in the Middle East and Europe, own over 50 restaurants in over six countries with plans for new launches in 2023 and 2024. Launched in 2011, the group forayed into the sector by franchising globally renowned concepts and introducing them to new markets. Their focus shifted towards the concept of home-grown restaurant and entertainment brands and ultimately, gained an A-list following. Ali’s inno v ativ e achievements and contribution to air transport and tourism sector in the wider Arab world have made him glob- ally recognised. He has managed to transform Arab aviation in October 2003 when he set up Air Arabia, the MENA region’s first low-cost carrier (LCC), opening a brand- new market niche in the region and paving the way for other low-cost carriers in the region. Applying his 28 years of experience with industry leaders, including Gulf Air and British Airways, Ali is the pioneer- ing aviator who drove Air Arabia’s growth to propel into the largest low-cost carrier in the MENA region, as well as the rst publicly owned airline in the Arab World that is the largest by market value. In addition to his current role, he is also the chair- man of Cozmo Travel, Alpha Sharjah Catering, Sharjah Information Systems Associates, and Alpha Aviation Academy. A well-known busi- nessperson in the region, Al Gurg is widely recognised for her stellar leadership of the Group under the mentor- ship of her father, Easa Saleh Al Gurg, the founder of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group (ESAG). She is also the president of Dubai Women’s Association, Dubai Businesswomen Council, and a board member of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI). She is also the deputy chairperson of the National Bank of Fujairah, on the Board of Trustees for the Moham- med Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and is on the advisory board of Coutts Bank, the wealth division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. As a keynote speaker, Al Gurg represents the UAE at multiple international conferences and roundta- bles, and is also part of the Dubai government’s o cial delegation for several trade and commerce meetings. REAL ESTATE HOSPITALITY AVIATIONDIVERSIFIED RAJA EASA AL GURGNext >