LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
“ Someone would open the door , and I would run and grab the opportunity ”
$ 2.7bn
Hussain Sajwani ’ s estimated net worth , making him one of the world ’ s richest Arabs
Daring and bold – how to build a property empire Widely considered a property visionary , Salwani ’ s bold entrepreneurial journey reflects that of the equally bold city of Dubai , in which he lives and upon which he has built his empire .
Daring , ambitious and often deemed extravagant , Sajwani – whose entrepreneurial father traded at a souk in Dubai and whose own entrepreneurial journey began with a catering venture in the early 80s – puts his success down to a combination of luck and vision .
“ Someone would open the door , and I would run and grab the opportunity ,” he once said .
Which is exactly how Sajwani ’ s property empire first came to be . Spotting an opportunity in the mid-nineties to accommodate the growing influx of expats coming into Dubai to do business , Sajwani constructed five three-star hotels ; and following the announcement in 2002 to allow foreigners to own property in the emirate , he established DAMAC Properties .
And so began Dubai ’ s six-year building boom with Sajwani leading the way .
Using capital from his stock market investments and from his businesses , including his UAE catering company , an insurance firm in Bahrain and a ceramics factory in Oman , the Arab billionaire began buying up land and building residential complexes , first in Dubai and then in Egypt , Jordan , Saudi and Lebanon .
And then Dubai ’ s buoyant property bubble burst . The arrival of the global financial crisis put an end to the real estate boom he had spearheaded , with residential prices in the emirate falling 50 % from a third-quarter 2008 peak to mid-2009 .
But in true entrepreneurial fashion , the property mogul rose from the ashes of the crisis to build back bigger , bolder , and better . And business boomed once more with DAMAC ranking number one on the Forbes 2017 Global 2000 list of revenues between 2013 and 2016 .
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