The number of billionaires has gone up in the Arab world. Forbes Middle East has released the Arab billionaires ranking. The lifestyle of billionaires and millionaires doesn’t seem to be affected. The billionaire club in that part of the world has 36 members and their cumulative wealth has gone up by $3.7 billion despite a marginal decline in the personal fortune of some of the members. Against the total net worth of $117.6 billion in the previous year the current club members are worth $121.3 billion. The leader of the pack is Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud who has retained his position at the top. His total fortune took a little dip during the year but his total wealth still add up to $18 billion.
The Richest Arab in the World
Alwaleed’s position as the richest Arab is fairly secure as the next member of the exclusive club Lebanese-Brazilian billionaire Joseph Safra sits on a fortune of $13.8 billion which is over $4 billion less than the leader. UAE has a total of four billionaires and they seem to be doing well as their cumulative wealth went up from $6.9 billion to $7.6 billion during the year. However the individual wealth of Majid Al Futtaim dropped from $1.2 billion to $1.1 billion.
The Billionaires from Morocco
Saudi Arabia and Lebanon have the largest representation in the exclusive Arab club with eight billionaires each. Egypt had a very tough year politically but the rich didn’t seem to get affected. Egypt has a total of seven billionaires followed by UAE who have four billionaires, as mentioned earlier. The unique thing about the list of the richest Arabs is the maiden entry of Morocco in the list. They have made a dramatic entry to the elite club with three billionaires namely Miloud Chaabi, Othman Benjelloun and Anas Sefrioui. Inheritance is generally the easiest way to move up this list but the richest Moroccan, Miloud Chaabi is self made man who started working at age 15 as shepherd and is today the head of Ynna Holding which has interests in real estate development, hotels, retail and industry.
