Moafaq Al Gaddah

Although Moafaq Al Gaddah rounds up our list of the top 50 richest Arabs, it is important to note that he has made the cut, and raised the barrier of entry this year to US$700m. His wealth, like many others on the list, is self-made.

In 1978, he established the Moafaq Al Gaddah (MAG) Group of companies in the UAE, initially trading in car parts, batteries and tyres. Today it is a multinational organisation with 18 offices in eight countries throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In the last five years, the MAG Group has ventured into real estate and has invested in 12 properties at various stages of development across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors – the current estimate of the total value of these projects is around US$900m. Major investments include a US$122m development in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and a US$50m project with a Kazakhstan-based investor.

While Al Gaddah does not have the billions to play with that his peers enjoy, he has been known to give away significant funds to charities. He recently donated US$6.6m to Dubai Cares, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, global initiative to empower a million children in the poorest countries with primary education.