Richest Billionaires 2024
Forbes Middle East: It’s been a banner year for the mega-wealthy. Forbes found an unprecedented 2,781 billionaires around the globe for this year’s World’s Billionaires list—141 more than in 2023 and 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021. The super-rich are also richer than ever, with their combined wealth hitting $14.2 trillion—$2 trillion more than just a year ago and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021.
The Middle East billionaires’ collective wealth amounted to $100.9 billion. Billionaires from Saudi Arabia were excluded from Forbes’ global list for the seventh consecutive year. Pavel Durov—the founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram—is the richest man in the Middle East, with a net worth of $15.5 billion in 2024, up from $11.5 billion in 2023.
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris is still the richest Arab in the world and ranked second in the Middle East after Durov, with a net worth of $8.8 billion. His wealth has risen by $1.4 billion compared to 2023, with one of his most valuable assets being a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker adidas. He also runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa.
The U.A.E. is home to the highest number of billionaires on the list as well as cumulative wealth, with a total net worth of $55.1 billion. Seven of the U.A.E.-based billionaires are Indian nationals.
Six billionaires are Lebanese, with a combined net worth of $11.8 billion. They include fine Jewelry tycoon Robert Mouawad and the three brothers of former billionaire and prime minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri, Bahaa, Ayman, and Fahed Hariri. And five billionaires are Egyptian, with a combined net worth of $18.4 billion. They are brothers Mohammed, Youssef, and Yasseen Mansour, and Nassef and Naguib Sawiris.
Two newcomers—both Indians—join the elite cohort in 2024. The only female billionaire in the Middle East, Renuka Jagtiani leads retailing giant Landmark Group and has a net worth of $4.8 billion. Meanwhile, real estate mogul Kabir Mulchandani, owner of FIVE Holdings, controls a fortune of $2 billion.
This list is an extract of the Forbes’ 38th annual World’s Billionaires List. Our list features all citizens of MENA countries, as well as expats whose business interests primarily lie in the region. Middle Eastern residents whose source of wealth is outside of the region have not been included.
