2010 World’s 50 Richest Arabs Worth $245bn, Up 18%

Photo credit: Arabian Business.com

The world’s 50 richest Arabs are worth a total of just over $245bn, an 18 percent increase on the same figure just over a year ago, the Arabian Business Rich List 2010 reveals.

Top of the list is Kingdom Holding chairman Prince Alwaleed, who has $20.4bn – a figure that has been verified by his private office.

Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber retains second place on the list after increasing his wealth from $9.7bn to $12bn over the course of the last year.

The Olayan family has jumped five places to claim the third spot, with $11.9bn, pipping Mohammad Al Amoudi in fourth.

Last year’s third-richest person, Nasser Al Kharafi, drops to sixth place.

Altogether, the wealth of the top 10 people on our list amounts to just shy of $100bn. This is a 16 percent rise on last year, proving – if anything – that the super-wealthy have no interest in easing back their earnings growth.

This year’s highest new entry was the Bugshan family, which claimed eighth place, while the biggest riser was the Bukhamseen family which jumped from 47th to 25th.

Once again, Saudi Arabia has by far the biggest number of entries on the list, with the kingdom’s entities taking up the top five places alone.

Altogether, there are 32 Saudi entries on the 2010 list, and of the 24 new entries, 20 of them came from the Gulf’s biggest economy.

The next highest countries to feature are the UAE and Kuwait with four entries, while Egypt has three. Lebanon has two entries, while Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Syria and Kuwait all have one each.

Sadly, Hasib Sabbagh, who was featured at number 19 in the 2009 list, passed away in January this year (2011).

To read the full Arabian Business Rich List 2010, click here