Top 10 Business Tycoons in the UAE (2026)
From Hussain Sajwani and Mohamed Alabbar to Pavel Durov and Renuka Jagtiani, ten business leaders who have shaped the UAE economy.
The UAE’s rise as a global business hub owes a great deal to its government’s long-term vision. It also owes a lot to a group of entrepreneurs who built some of the region’s biggest companies in property, retail, banking, technology, healthcare and education. Some are Emirati founders whose families helped build modern Dubai. Others arrived from abroad with little and built empires from the UAE. Here are ten business leaders who have shaped the country’s economy, listed in no particular order.
What sets the UAE’s top business leaders apart
Most of the names below share three traits. They moved early into sectors that grew with the country, from real estate in the 2000s to e-commerce and private healthcare later on. They reinvested heavily in the UAE itself. And many of them now run large philanthropic programs, especially in education.
1. Hussain Sajwani – DAMAC Group
Hussain Sajwani started his first business, a catering company, in 1982. Twenty years later, in 2002, he founded DAMAC Properties, which grew into one of the Middle East’s best-known luxury real estate developers, with projects across Dubai and beyond. In 2022 he took DAMAC Properties private, delisting it from the Dubai Financial Market. Today his DAMAC Group also spans hospitality, data centers and other investments.
2. Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair – Mashreq
Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair is one of Dubai’s most established Emirati businessmen. In 1967 he founded the Bank of Oman, which later became Mashreq, now one of the UAE’s leading banks. His family remains at the helm of the bank. In 2015 he pledged a third of his wealth to set up the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, one of the region’s largest privately funded education foundations, which supports young Emiratis and Arab students.
3. Pavel Durov – Telegram
Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov founded the social network VKontakte in 2006 and the messaging app Telegram in 2013. Telegram is headquartered in Dubai, and Durov holds UAE citizenship. In March 2025 he announced that Telegram had passed one billion monthly active users, making it one of the world’s most widely used messaging platforms.
4. Mohamed Alabbar – Emaar, Eagle Hills and noon
Mohamed Alabbar founded Emaar Properties in 1997. The company went on to develop Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and The Dubai Mall. He later founded Eagle Hills, an Abu Dhabi-based private real estate investment and development company, and co-founded the e-commerce platform noon in 2017. Few people have done as much to shape Dubai’s skyline.
5. Yusuffali M.A. – LuLu Group
Yusuffali M.A. arrived in Abu Dhabi from Kerala in 1973 and built LuLu Group International into one of the Gulf’s largest retail businesses. He is the group’s chairman. In November 2024, LuLu Retail listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the UAE’s largest IPO of that year, with more than 240 stores across the GCC at the time of listing.
6. Abdulla Al Futtaim – Al-Futtaim Group
Abdulla Al Futtaim chairs Al-Futtaim Group, a family business that began as a trading company in the 1930s. It is now one of the region’s largest private conglomerates. The group distributes Toyota, Lexus and Honda vehicles, runs IKEA and Marks & Spencer stores in the region, and develops Dubai Festival City.
7. Sunny Varkey – GEMS Education
Sunny Varkey’s parents moved to Dubai in 1959 and later ran a small school. He built that school into GEMS Education, one of the world’s largest operators of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools. In 2010 he set up the Varkey Foundation, which created the $1 million Global Teacher Prize in 2015 to recognize outstanding teachers.
8. Joy Alukkas – Joyalukkas
Joy Alukkas grew up in his family’s jewelry business in Thrissur, Kerala. In 1987 he opened the first Joyalukkas showroom in Abu Dhabi. From there he built one of the world’s best-known jewelry retail brands, with showrooms across 11 countries.
9. Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil – Burjeel Holdings
A radiologist by training, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil founded VPS Healthcare in Abu Dhabi in 2007. He is the founder and chairman of Burjeel Holdings, one of the UAE’s largest private healthcare providers, which listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in October 2022. His work has helped make the UAE a stronger destination for advanced medical care.
10. Renuka Jagtiani – Landmark Group
Renuka Jagtiani is Chairwoman and CEO of Landmark Group, one of the Middle East’s largest retail and hospitality conglomerates. Her husband, the late Micky Jagtiani, founded it in 1973 with a single baby products shop in Bahrain. She has led the group’s growth through brands such as Centrepoint, Home Centre and Max, and continues to run the business after his death in 2023.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the most influential business leaders in the UAE?
Leaders such as Hussain Sajwani, Abdulla Al Ghurair, Mohamed Alabbar, Yusuffali M.A. and Abdulla Al Futtaim built companies that sit at the core of the UAE economy, across property, banking, retail and trading.
Which sectors have produced the UAE’s biggest fortunes?
Real estate, retail, banking, healthcare, education and, more recently, technology.
Why do so many entrepreneurs base their businesses in the UAE?
The UAE offers a central location between Europe, Asia and Africa, world-class infrastructure, a business-friendly regulatory environment and long-term residency options for investors and founders.
