DUBAI — The Forbes Middle East has revealed its ranking of the Middle East's most powerful Arab family businesses for 2020, highlighting 100 of the largest family companies that have helped to shape the region.

• Saudi Arabian family businesses, dominated the list with 36 entries. The Olayan Group, which ranked third on the list, was the top-ranked Saudi company on the list.

• The UAE ranked second with 21 companies: The Al-Futtaim Group, headed by billionaire Abdullah Al-Futtaim, comes second on the list, topping the UAE’s family businesses, thanks to his empire that includes car dealerships, licenses to numerous brands, and shares in companies listed on the stock exchange.

• Kuwait is the third-highest represented company with 10 Kuwaiti groups making the list. Alghanim Industries, headed by billionaire Kutaiba Alghanim, was the highest ranked Kuwaiti company.

• The list was topped by the Mansour Group from Egypt, which is managed by Mohamed, Yassin and Youssef Mansour, whose combined wealth is $7.4 billion.

• More than 600,000 employees work for companies listed in the "100 Most Powerful Arab Family Companies in the Middle East 2020" list.

• The 10 most powerful Arab families have a wealth of more than $31 billion.

• The list included 10 companies over the age of 100, and 13 companies between the ages of 75 and 100 years.

• Over 80% of the family businesses on the list are licensed to sell international brands, either in the countries in which they are located, or across the region.

• The list includes 15 families that have been passed on for more than three generations, 47 companies run by the second generation of the family, and 38 companies run by their founders.

METHODOLOGY

We looked at approximately 200 Arab family-owned businesses in the region. We considered:

• Group investments in regional and global stock exchanges and real estate assets.

• Business diversification and the number of sectors in which they have significant operations.

• Types of business activity and to what extent they have been affected by this crisis.

• Number of employees.

• Number of countries they are present in and geographical diversification.

• Date of establishment. — SG