The past year was unkind to billionaires all over the world, including the Middle East, where Arab billionaires saw their net worth drop by 23.8 per cent from a year ago, according to the latest Forbes Middle East report.

Aggregate net worth of the billionaires dropped $29.9 billion from one year ago to a recent $95.5 billion. There are 32 Arab billionaires, according to the report.

Forbes Middle East added five new billionaires, including Hussain Sajwani from the UAE, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani of Qatar, and Oman’s Suhail Bahwan.

Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia remains the wealthiest Arab in the world, even though his net worth fell by more than 20 per cent from a year ago, Forbes said.

With seven, Lebanon has the most billionaires, making it also one the countries with the highest number of billionaires per capita in the world. Saudi billionaires are the richest with a combined net worth of $34.6 billion. The second richest are from the UAE with a combined net worth of $19.7 billion.

Families remain pillars of Arab economies, providing jobs and stability. Saudi Arabia again tops the rich list, with 12 of the 15 richest families.  Nine out of the 15 families made a fortune owning licensing rights to foreign brands, mostly American.

Forbes Middle East traces the trajectory of the Alajlan family, from small shop owners, selling menswear in a Riyadh souk, to exclusive licensees of Versace, Ferrari, Kenzo and other luxury brands for shemaghs, the traditional Arab headdress.

Richest Arab billionaire: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud (Saudi Arabia) – No. 1, net worth $17.3 billion. The Prince owns stakes in private and public companies in the US, Europe and the Middle East through Kingdom Holding Company.
Youngest Arab billionaire: Fahd Hariri (Lebanon) – No. 32, net worth $1.2 billion. Fahd Hariri is the youngest son of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. While he currently lives in Paris, he develops residential buildings in Beirut.
New Arab billionaires:
* Suhail Bahwan (Oman) – ranked No 7 with net worth $3.4 billion. Bahwan started out as a small trader before diversifying into several industries; * Hussain Sajwani (UAE) – ranked No 8 with net worth $3.2 billion. Sajwani founded residential real estate developer Damac Properties in 2002;
* Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani (Qatar) – Ranked No 18 with net worth of $2 billion. At age 16, Al Thani started selling car parts in Doha, before establishing his eponymous holding company in 1964.
• Abdul Wahid Al Rostamani (UAE) – Ranked No 28, net worth $1.3 billion. Al Rostamani and his late brother, Abdullah, founded Dubai’s first bookshop in 1954;
• Mohammed Saud Bahwan (Oman) – Ranked No 28, net worth $1.3 billion. Bahwan’s late father became Toyota’s agent in Oman in 1975 and built it into a market leader.
By Country
• Saudi Arabia – 6 billionaires worth $34.6 billion
• UAE – 6 billionaires worth $19.7 billion
• Egypt – 6 billionaires, worth $14.2 billion
• Lebanon – 7 billionaires worth $12.5 billion
• Oman – 3 billionaires worth $6.2 billion
• Morocco – 2 billionaires with a new worth of $3.2 billion
• Algeria – 1 billionaire worth $3.1 billion
• Qatar – 1 billionaire worth $2 billion

Richest families
• Olayan (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 1, net worth $8 billion. The 69-year-old Olayan Group remains one of the largest family-owned holdings in the Middle East. It has partnerships with Kimberly Clark, Coca-Cola and General Foods, among other companies, and is a major investor in stock markets.
* Alshaya (Kuwait) – Ranked No 2, net worth $5 billion. Founded in 1890, M.H. Alshaya Co operates more than 2,800 stores across the Middle East, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic, including Starbucks, H&M and The Body Shop.
• Al-Kharafi (Kuwait) – Ranked No 2, net worth $5 billion. Founded by the late Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi, the Kharafi Group is one of the Middle East’s biggest conglomerates and a major investor in the Kuwaiti stock market.
• Abudawood (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 4, net worth $4 billion. The late Ismail Ali Abudawood founded a small wholesale business in 1935 in Jeddah. Two decades later, the Abudawood Group became the exclusive agent for Procter & Gamble.
•  Alajlan (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 5, net worth $2.6 billion. Ajlan Alajlan opened a small shop in Riyadh in 1978. He and his brothers now own five garment factories in China, and sell clothing in more than 6,000 stores throughout the Gulf.
• Al Jaber (UAE) – Ranked No 6, net worth $2.5 billion. Founded in 1970, to date the Al Jaber Group has laid 7,000 km of roads in the Emirates, and is the largest private sector employer in the country with more than 60,000 workers.
• Khalid Bugshan & Family (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 7, net worth $2 billion. Holding Abdullah Said Bugshan Co, founded in 1923, was split between Khalid and his two cousins, Ahmed and Abdullah in 1998. Khalid Bugshan is CEO of Saudi Bugshan Group.
• Alhokair (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 8, net worth $1.8 billion. Fawaz Alhokair Group is Saudi Arabia’s most valuable retail company with 11 shopping centers across the country, and rights to global brands including Zara, Gap, Nine West and Topshop.
•  Ahmed Salem Bugshan & Family (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 8, net worth $1.8 billion. Ahmed Salem Bugshan is chairman of one of three offshoots of Abdullah Said Bugshan Co. The group owns half of the Pepsi bottling and distribution operation in Saudi Arabia.
• Sharbatly (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 10, net worth $1.7 billion. Founded in the 1930s, the Al Nahla Group is a conglomerate with interests in automobiles, food and real estate. It owns 40 million square meters of land in Saudi Arabia.
• Alrashed (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 11, net worth $1.6 billion. Rashed AlRashed founded AlRashed Group in 1950, selling building materials during Saudi Arabia’s construction boom.  He later diversified into real estate, automotive parts and food.
* Al-Dabbagh (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 12, net worth $1.5 billion. Abdullah Al-Dabbagh founded the Al Dabbagh Group in 1962. Amr Al-Dabbagh, who was chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, now heads the family holding.
•  Jameel (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 12, net worth $1.5 billion. In 1955, Abdul Latif Jameel won exclusive rights to distribute Toyota in Saudi Arabia. He passed away in 1993, and son Mohammed became chairman and president of Abdul Latif Jameel Co.
•  Al-Agil (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 14, net worth $1.3 billion. Brothers Mohammed, Abdulkarim, Abdulsalam, Abdullah and Nasser opened Jarir Bookstore after graduating. Jarir went public in 2003, now selling smartphones, office supplies and laptops.
•  Al Subeaei (Saudi Arabia) – Ranked No 15, net worth $1 billion. Mohammed and his brother Abdullah founded the Alsubeaei Company in 1933. In 2010, the second generation divided the assets and Mohammed’s family formed MASIC.

Net worths are estimates as of February 12, 2016 for individual billionaires (unless otherwise stated) and March 8, 2016 for the families, where several relatives own shares in the same holding, but division of ownership is not known. The cut-off is $1 billion. - TradeArabia News Service