The year 2022 did not pass unnoticed for the Arab region, especially for oil-importing countries such as Egypt and Lebanon.
But despite difficult economic conditions that the region has been going through, families in Egypt and Lebanon topped the list for the five richest families in the Arab world.
Forbes list of the five richest Arab families
1-The Sawiris Family
Although the Sawiris family has incurred a loss of about US$800 million since the release of the Forbes Billionaires List for 2022 last April, it topped the Forbes list of the five richest Arab families, with an estimated fortune of $11.2 billion.
2-The Mikati Family
The Lebanese Mikati family, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his brother Taha, came in second place with a net worth of $5.6 billion, after losing $800 million in nine months.
3-The Mansour Family Issad Rabrab Family
The Mansour family from Egypt came in third place after amounting a fortune estimated at $5.1 billion.
While the Algerian billionaire family, Issad Rabrab, shared the same ranking as the Mansour family, with the same wealth value.
4-The Hariri Family
The Lebanese Hariri family ranked fifth with a fortune of $4.7 billion, the same value in last year’s annual billionaires list.
Here are some of the reasons behind the families wealth.
The economic challenges that countries worldwide have been facing especially Egypt and Lebanon, due to the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war has caused a decline in the fortunes of Sawiris and Mikati.
The losses of the two families calculated together amount to $1.6 billion.
The following is the change in the fortunes of the five richest Arab families from March 11 to December 29, 2022:
1-Sawiris Family
Country: Egypt
Wealth: $11.2 billion
The change since March 11: The Sawiris family’s wealth decreased by $800 million.
The wealth of the richest Egyptian and Arab family declined within nine months, to reach $11.2 billion on December 29, 2022, due to the decline in the wealth of Nassef Sawiris, CEO of OCI NV, whose fortune amounted to $6.9 billion, compared to $7.7 billion on March 11.
While Naguib Sawiris, Chairman of the board of directors of Orascom, kept his fortune at $3.4 billion, Forbes estimated Samih’s wealth at $850 million.
2-Mikati Family
Wealth: $5.6 billion.
Country: Lebanon.
Change since March 11: The Mikati family’s fortune has decreased by $800 million.
The fortune of the two brothers, Najib and Taha Mikati, declined by $800 million to reach $5.6 billion on December 29, 2022, and this comes with Najib assuming the country’s prime minister position since September 10, 2021.
3-Mansour Family
Net worth: $5.1 billion
Country: Egypt
The Mansour family, consisting of the three brothers Mohamed, Youssef and Yassin Mansour, maintained its combined wealth, which amounts to $ 5.1 billion, distributed between 2 $2.5 billion in favor of Mohamed Mansour, who oversees the Mansour Group, $ 1.5 billion in favor of Youssef, and then $ 1.1 billion in favor of Yassin Mansour.
4-Issad Rabrab Family
Wealth: $5.1 billion
Country: Algeria
The Algerian billionaire and his family have maintained their wealth at $5.1 billion since Forbes launched the list of billionaires last April until December 29, 2022 of the same year.
This is the same value as the Mansour family’s wealth to share third place in the list of the richest Arab families in 2022.
5-Hariri Family
Net worth: $4.7 billion
Country: Lebanon
The brothers Bahaa, Ayman, and Fahd Hariri inherited their wealth from their father, Rafik Hariri, the late Lebanese Prime Minister, who was also a billionaire.
