In an exclusive award ceremony earlier this month, Forbes Middle East revealed the region’s top entrepreneurs list. Over 90% of the entrepreneurs are based in the U.A.E., with their operations spread across the entire region. These tycoons have businesses spanning 24 different industries.
The top ten entrepreneurs in the Top 100 Indian Entrepreneurs category are:
Sunil Vaswani- Newcomer to the billionaires list, Sunil Vaswani chairs Dubai-headquartered Stallion Group, which has a presence in 18 countries but gets the bulk of its revenue from Africa. Businesses span commodities trading, frozen foods, auto assembly and dealerships, notably for Nissan, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. Stallion is expanding into steel, aquaculture and low-cost housing, among much else. At age 21, Mr Vaswani joined his father’s trading business and oversaw an expansion.
M.A. Yusuff Ali- Gulf-based retailer M.A.Yusuff Ali chairs the USD 6.3 billion LuLu Group whose flagship is the low-price LuLu retail chain with 121 hyperstores, supermarkets and grocery outlets, and a dozen shopping malls, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. His hospitality arm Twenty14 Holdings, has been on a buying spree picking up such trophies as the iconic Scotland Yard building in London, which it plans to convert into a luxury hotel.
Mukesh Jagtiani- Retailing magnate Micky Jagtiani’s founded and chairs Dubai-headquartered Landmark Group. He has latched onto e-tailing with landmarkshops.com. Landmark has close to 2,000 stores generating an estimated USD 6 billion in revenues annually, across the Middle East, Africa and India. Sportsone, the group’s sporting goods chain, has been expanding rapidly. Jagtiani also owns a minority stake in British retailer Debenhams.
Dr. B.R. Shetty- Former pharma salesman B.R.Shetty, who immigrated to Abu Dhabi in 1972 is expanding his health care and financial services empire through acquisitions. His London-listed NMC Health, UAE’s largest private health care provider, has been on a buying spree, snatching Americare Group, which provides in-home health care services, Sharjah-based Dr. Sunny Healthcare Group and Provita International Medical Center. His remittances firm, UAE Exchange, which acquired U.K. foreign exchange firm Travelex Holdings for an estimated USD 1.6 billion in 2014, is reportedly planning a London listing this year.
Sunny Varkey- Son of emigre teachers, Sunny Varkey built his family’s 55-year old GEMS Education into the largest network of private K-12 schools in the world, present in 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. It has 140,000 students enrolled in 78 owned schools and 60 schools under management.
P.N.C. Menon- Dubai-based property magnate, P.N.C.Menon hasn’t lost his appetite for expansion despite handing over charge of Indian operations to son Ravi. His pet project is Sobha Hartland, a USD 4 billion development close to Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa. Spread over 183 acres it will have 282 villas, 2 schools and 3 hotels. Another is the USD 9 billion Meydan Sobha, a joint venture with the Meydan Group, to build luxury villas in the heart of Dubai. Native of Kerala state, Menon turned a backyard furniture business into a property and construction conglomerate after migrating to Oman in 1976.
Azad Moopen- An Indian physician and philanthropist and a developer of healthcare facilities in Asia-Pacific, Azad Moopen is the chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare. The healthcare conglomerates in the Middle East and India was founded in 1987.
Rajen Kilachand- He is the chairman & President of the U.A.E based Dodsal Group. He is also a trustee and a member of the Board of Management of the Bhatia General Hospital in Mumbai, India and Shree Somnath Temple Trust in Gujarat, India. He was the former director of Federal Mogul Goetz India Limited, (1997 until 2006), and sat on the board of directors of Pathfinder International.
B. Ravi Pillai- Son of a farmer, Ravi Pillai migrated to the Middle East and got into construction. His RP Group derives more than 70% of its USD 4.8 billion revenue from construction firm Nasser S. Al-Hajri corp. The group expanded into Kuwait last year after securing three projects from the Kuwait National Petroleum Company. Pillai, who travels incessantly, has big plans for real estate, including building a 110-story tower in Dubai.
Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil Parambath- Shamsheer Vayalil is a qualified doctor but focuses on business. The desire to do something on his own drove him to set up Lifeline Hospital with the goal of providing high quality medical facilities at reasonable prices. He has inherited business acumen from his family and is a source of inspiration to his partners and employees.
The selection of top entrepreneurs by Forbes Middle East was done on the basis of the revenue, number of employees, age of the company and visibility.
