Four Syrian businessmen have been named of the Forbes Middle East rich list for 2019, which includes 42 billionaires.
On the list and in second place, according to the Al-Iqtissadi site, is Brazilian businessman Joseph Safra, 80, who comes from a Syrian family, with a value of 25.2 billion dollars, making him the richest banker in the world.
In 15th place is French businessman of Syrian origin Mohed Altrad, 71, who owns the Groupe Altrad, with wealth of 2.7 billion dollars, retaining the value recorded in 2018.
Businessman Ghassan Aboud, 52, is 27th on the list with 1.75 billion dollars. He heads the Ghassan Aboud Group, and has investments in various sectors including car dealing, hospitality, retail, real estate, and media.
The fourth Syrian businessman on the list was Michel Shalhoub, 87, who lives in France and occupied 29th place on the list with a fortune of 1.7 billion dollars, rising from his position last year.
In total, the value of the Middle East’s most wealthy declined five percent to reach 191.3 billion dollars from 201.4 billion in 2018. Only seven billionaires out of the total 42 in the region were able to raise the value of their wealth.
Syrian businessmen Ghassan Aboud and Ronaldo Mouchawar previously occupied 18th and 40th place respectively on the list of the most prominent 50 influential executive figures living in the Emirates in 2018, issued by Forbes Middle East last August.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
