Egypt’s Richest
Men
“Early to bed, early to rise, keeps you healthy, wealthy and wise.” - Benjamin Franklin There seems to be 15 men in Egypt who follow former American President Benjamin Franklin’s quote. Like every year, prominent business magazine Forbes released its list on the world’s richest men 2014 - and as usual, Microsoft Founder Bill Gates and Mexican Telecom-Giant Carlos Slim Helu are wrestling for first place. According to Forbes, 74-yearold Helu – or better known as “Slim” – has an estimated wealth of $79.8 billion, whereas Gates is at $79.3 billion. The first Arab in the long list of the World’s Richest People list comes at place 30, with no other than Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud from Saudi Arabia. With a net worth of $21.4 billion, the investor barely owns a third of Gates’ fortune. The second Arab is Mohammed Al Amoudi, also known as one of Saudi Arabia’s “oil sheikhs”. Although he comes at place 74 with a wealth of $14.4 billion. This year, he is no longer richer than Mark Zuckerberg, founder and owner of infamous most used website worldwide – Facebook. Yet, it is not until further down that Egyptian
businessmen earned a place in the list. In the long list of international billionaires and millionaires, Egypt has scored several times. Names like Sawiris, Sewedy, Mansour and Ghabbour come to mind at first thought. But to determine who is the richest of them all and who follows Franklin’s rule, one needs to carefully evaluate the wealth of each. In this report, Egypt Business Directory brings you Egypt’s 15 Richest Men in 2014 and tells you about the most dominant families in the country - in terms of wealth of course.
The richest Egyptians in 2014 are... $6.7 bln
Nassef Sawiris
$3.1 bln
Mohamed Mansour
$2.8 bln
Naguib Sawiris Onsi Sawiris
$2.4 bln
Youssef Mansour
$2.3 bln
Mohamed Fayed
$1.9 bln
Yasseen Mansour
$1.8 bln $1.3 bln
Samih Sawiris Ahmed Sewedy
$240.85 mln
Sadek Sewedy
$240.85 mln
Raouf Ghabbour
$233.06 mln
Mohamed Khames Mohamed Sewedy AbdulRahman Hassan Sharbatly Suleiman Abdul Mohsin
$205.15 mln $178.19 mln $164.39 mln $152.19 mln
Who are they? What do they do? Find out more about the backgrounds of Egypt’s richest men.
1
Nassef Sawiris
Age: 53 Children: 4 Rank in the Arab World: 4 Global Rank: 224 Sector: Construction
W
ith a net worth of $6.7 billion (in 2011 it was $4.75 billion, and in 2013 it stood at $6.6 billion), Nassef Sawiris runs Orascom Construction Industries, Egypt’s most valuable publicly-traded company, which was founded by father Onsi. The construction and fertilizer company’s shares fell almost one-third during the protests leading up to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in February 2011. Sawiris also owns big stakes in cement giant Lafarge, and Texas Industries. Recently, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb met Sawiris to seek a settlement to the tax dispute between Sawiris and the Tax Authority. The former was sentenced to three years in prison and was fined EGP50 million. On the 28th of July 2014, Sawiris was the second biggest “winner” in the world, gaining over $650 million in one day, most likely due to a surge in Lafarges’s Q2 net profit. His brothers Samih and Naguib are also two of Egypt’s richest men.
Total Wealth:
$6.7 bln
2
Mohamed Mansour
Age: 66 Children: 2 Rank in the Arab World: 9 Global Rank: 553 Sector: Diversified
M
ohamed Mansour (net worth $3.2 billion in 2014 - $1.7 billion in 2011) and his brothers are the biggest sellers of GM vehicles in the world. Strong sales in their Caterpillar business throughout Africa, Russia and Iraq are making up for a slump in Egypt. Other interests include the largest supermarket chain in Egypt (Metro), and the Philip Morris franchise. In July 2014, Electronic Cigarettes International Group received a Strategic Equity Investment from the Mansour Group of up to $60 Million.
Total Wealth:
$3.2 bln
3
Naguib Sawiris
W
ith a net worth of $2.8 billion (in 2011 it was $2.9 billion - in 2013 $2.5 billion), Naguib Sawiris, the eldest son of Egyptian billionaire Onsi Sawiris, built Orascom Telecom, then sold the family’s stake to Russian and emerging market telecom giant VimpelCom in April 2013 for $6.5 billion in shares and cash, becoming one of VimpelCom’s largest shareholders in the process. Recently he also to acquired a 20 per cent stake in EFGHermes, which failed however, since shareholders offered less than half the shares sought.
Total Wealth:
$2.8 bln
Age: 60 Children: 4 Rank in the Arab World: 13 Global Rank: 633 Sector: Telecom
4
Onsi Sawiris
Age: 84 Children: 3 Rank in the Arab World: 18 Global Rank: 731 Sector: Construction, Telecom
W
ith a net worth of 2 billion ($2.6 billion in 2011), Onsi Sawiris is the patriarch of Egypt’s wealthiest family. The Egyptian government nationalized his first construction business in 1971. Undeterred, he rebuilt what became Orascom Construction Industries. His son Nassef took over in 1995. Another son, Naguib, built a separate telecom company, while son Samih went into hotels and real estate. Onsi Sawiris now owns shares in Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, following its acquisition of the family stake in Orascom Telecom in 2011.
Total Wealth:
$2.4 bln
5
Youssef Mansour
W
ith a net worth of $2.3 billion ($1.55 billion in 2011 - $1.95 billion in 2013), Youssef Mansour keeps a low profile. He owns assets, in publicly traded real estate development company Palm Hills Developments. Youssef is responsible for building Egypt’s largest supermarket chain, Metro, but now devotes time to the family foundation which targets illiteracy and education. The bulk of his fortune comes from the family’s business as the largest seller of GM vehicles in the world, and strong sales of Caterpillar machines.
Total Wealth:
$2.3 bln
Age: 69 Children: 5 Rank in the Arab World: 21 Global Rank: NA Sector: Diversified
6
Mohamed ElFayed
Age: 85 Children: 5 Rank in the Arab World: 26 Global Rank: 928 Sector: Retail, Investments
W
ith net worth of $1.9 billion, Mohamed Fayed stands at rank 5. Back in the 50s, he set up a The General Navigation Company (Genavco), which was later nationalized by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Serving as the Chairman of Harrods in London for over 25 years, Fayed also bought British football team Fulham Football Club and even dined with Iron Woman Margret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street because he managed his finances in a way that was beneficial to the British economy. He bought France’s hotel Ritz in 1979.
Total Wealth:
$1.9 bln
7
Yasseen Mansour
W
ith a net worth of $1.8 billion ($1.55 billion in 2011), Yasseen Mansour, the youngest of Egypt’s three Mansour brothers, was put on the Interpol list on fraud charges in 2011, but was removed after being cleared of corruption charges over the misappropriation of state land for Palm Hills Developments. Yasseen, his brothers and cousin are the largest shareholders in the company. He started his career at Mansour Automotive Company in 1986, and has since successfully lead and managed several companies in various sectors.
Total Wealth:
$1.8 bln
Age: 52 Children: 4 Rank in the Arab World: 30 Global Rank: 997 Sector: Diversified
8
Samih Sawiris Age: 57 Rank in the Arab World: 35 Global Rank: 1,524 Sector: Real Estate, Tourism
Samih Sawiris is the Chairman of Orascom Development Holding, which mainly serves in the Tourism Sector . He also developed a low income housing project in 6th of October City and is a member of the Sawiris Foundation.
Total Wealth: $1.3 bln
9
Ahmed ElSewedy Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 75 Global Rank: NA Sector: Electric
Ahmed ElSewedy is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at El Sewedy Electro-meter Egypt.Graduated from Cairo University, he joined the family business which was founded in 1938.
Total Wealth: $240.85 mln
10
Sadek ElSewedy
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 75 Global Rank: NA Sector: Electric
Sadek ElSewedy is the Chairman at Elsewedy Electric Company. He owns 23.33% of the company’s shares and had also served on the board at Arabia Investments Development Financial Investments Holding.
Total Wealth: $240.85 mln
11
Raouf Ghabbour
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 79 Global Rank: NA Sector: Automobiles
12
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 84 Global Rank: NA Sector: Automobiles
Total Wealth: $233.06 mln
Total Wealth: $205.15 mln
Raouf Ghabbour is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ghabbour Auto (GB Auto), which was founded in 1999 and manufactures trucks, buses etc. He holds 31.52% of its shares.
13
Mohamed ElSewedy
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 89 Global Rank: NA Sector: Automobiles
Mohamed Farid Khames is the founder of Oriental Weavers, one of the biggest carpet manufacturers in the world which was established in 1980. He holds 41.81% of its shares.
14
AbdulRahman Sharbatly
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 91 Global Rank: NA Sector: Automobiles
Total Wealth: $178.19 mln
Total Wealth: $164.39 mln
Mohamed ElSewedy is the sousin of Sadik ElSewedy and owns 17.26% of the family business ElSewedy Electric.The company also constructs and runs plants in the electrical manufacturing sector.
15
Mohamed Khames
AbdulRahman Hassan Sharbatly is the Deputy Chairman of Golden Pyramids Plaza, Chairman of AlNahla Group and serves on the boards of Riyad Bank and Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Company.
Suleiman Abdul Mohsin
Age: NA Rank in the Arab World: 98 Global Rank: NA Sector: Automobiles
Total Wealth: $152.19 mln Suleiman Abdul Mohsen holds stakes in Citadel Capital, Sixth of October Development & Investment Co. , Belton Financial Holding and GB Auto.
The Families When going through the list of Egypt’s Here is a bit more about both tycoonrichest men, two family-names tend to families, that enjoy a remarkable amount stand out: Sawiris and Mansour. of wealth.
Total Wealth:
Sawiris
Main Business:
Orascom
$13.2 bln
The Father: Onsi Sawiris
Born 1930 - also named “The Patriarch” Son of a lawyer in southern Egypt Founded Orascom Conglomerate in 1950 Prevented from leaving the country for six years in the 1960s
The Eldest Son: Naguib Sawiris
Born 1954 Educated in Zurich Joined Orascom in 1979 In charge of Orascom Telecom Holding Founded the Free Egyptians Party in 2011 Chairman of Weather Investments II S.à r.l
The Middle Son: Samih Sawiris
Born 1957 Educated in Berlin Joined Orascom in 1996 In charge of Orascom Development Holding Holds Montenegron citizenship Has stakes in Swiss football club FC Luzern
The Youngest Son: Nassif Sawiris
Born 1961 Educated in Chicago Joined Orascom in 1990 In charge of Orascom Construction Industries Director at Lafarge Director of BESIX Holds 1,671 Lafarge shares
Mansour
Total Wealth:
Main Business:
Mansour Group
$7.2 bln The Father: Loutfy Mansour
Born 1909 - Died 1976 Had four sons and one daughter Started out with cotton trading, moved on to Agent of GM 1955: Cotton company was nationalized, gov’t took assets
The Eldest Son: Youssef Mansour
Born 1945 Educated in the US Studied Textile Technology and Textile Chemistry Founding Member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt
Chevrolet
The Middle Son: Mohamed Mansour Born 1948 Educated in the US Former Minister of Transport Resigned from ministerial post after train crash Lecturer at Auburn University (till 1973)
Distributors of:
Marlboro Metro
General Motors
Other businesses:
McDonald’s
The Youngest Son: Yasseen Mansour Born 1962 Educated in the US Founder of Palm Hills Development in 2005 Founder of Manfood Faced corruption charges in 2011 Board member of National Cancer Inst.
Caterpillar
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