Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair

Who is Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair?

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair عبد العزيز الغرير of the United Arab Emirates, is the Chief Executive Officer of the publicly traded Mashreq Bank, and billionaire. As of 2011 his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2.7 billion, making him the 420th richest person in the world.

Al-Ghurair is currently the head of Mashreq Bank, a leading United Arab Emirates commercial bank founded by his father during the Gulf's first oil boom in the 1960s. Bank profits were down across the region this year, but his family's diverse holdings in real estate, cement, contracting, publishing, residential care and petrochemicals, among others, has helped soften the blow. The food division of his holdings, headed by his brother Essa, includes the Middle East's second-largest flour mill and ubiquitous Masafi mineral water. Al Ghurair chairs the Arab Business Angels Network, an organisation that seeks to match angel investment funding with startups by Arab entrepreneurs.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair was Speaker of the House of the Federal National Council in the United Arab Emirates from 2007 until 2011.

Al Ghurair is also the CEO of Mashreq Group. He was appointed to the role in 1990 and has since steered the bank into becoming a world-class financial services institution. Under his 17-year tenure the bank’s assets have risen to AED 72.6 billion as of June 2007—a 50.3 per cent increase from 2006.