The Forbes 2016 World’s Billionaires list has been revealed and no surprise that some of its biggest players are from the GCC region.
“Volatile stock markets, cratering oil prices and a stronger dollar led to a dynamic reshuffling of wealth,” said Forbes’ Luisa Kroll explaining how this year’s list has seen a drop in 10-figure fortunes.
“We found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 a year ago,” she added. “Their aggregate net worth was US$6.48 trillion, US$570 billion less than last year. It was also the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped – it is now US$3.6 billion, US$300 million less than last year.”
While eight of the top 10 billionaires were from the US (60-year-old businessman Bill Gates came in at number one while 31-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came in at number 6) our GCC moguls didn’t fair too badly either. Here are the top 10 richest people in the region:
1. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Rank: 41
Net worth: US$18.3bn
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Sector: Investments
Age: 60
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2. Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi
Rank: 138
Net worth: US$8.4bn
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Sector: Oil, diversified
Age: 69
3. Majid Al Futtaim and family
Rank: 270
Net worth: US$5.1bn
Country of citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Sector: Real estate, retail
Related Story: How To Become A Millionaire In Dubai
4. Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair and family
Rank: 286
Net worth: US$4.9bn
Country of citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Sector: Diversified
5. Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Kabeer
Rank: 477
Net worth: US$3.5bn
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Sector: Dairy farms
Age: 62
6. Hussain Sajwani
Rank: 527
Net worth: US$3.2bn
Country of citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Sector: Real estate
Age: 63
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7. Abdulla Al Futtaim
Rank: 549
Net worth: US$3.1bn
Country of citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Sector: Auto dealers, investments
8. Mohammed Al Issa and family
Rank: 771
Net worth: US$2.4bn
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Sector: Investments
Related Story: Why We Won’t Be Getting A Pay Rise In 2016
9. Saif Al Ghurair and family
Rank: 810
Net worth: US$2.2bn
Country of citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Sector: Diversified
10. Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani
Rank: 906
Net worth: US$2bn
Country of citizenship: Qatar
Sector: Hotels, diversified
Age: 68
Images: Getty
