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The Middle East's RICHEST BILLIONAIRES 2024
Forbes Middle East - English
|May 2024
It's been a banner year for the mega-wealthy. Forbes found an unprecedented 2,781 billionaires around the globe for this year's World's Billionaires list-141 more than in 2023 and 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021.
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The super-rich are also richer than ever, with their combined wealth hitting $14.2 trillion-$2 trillion more than just a year ago and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021.
The Middle East billionaires' collective wealth amounted to $100.9 billion. Billionaires from Saudi Arabia were excluded from Forbes' global list for the seventh consecutive year.
Pavel Durov-the founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram-is the richest man in the Middle East, with a net worth of $15.5 billion in 2024, up from $11.5 billion in 2023.
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris is still the richest Arab in the world and ranked second in the Middle East after Durov, with a net worth of $8.8 billion. His wealth has risen by $1.4 billion compared to 2023, with one of his most valuable assets being a nearly 6% stake in sportswear maker adidas. He also runs OCI, one of the world's largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa.
This story is from the May 2024 edition of Forbes Middle East - English.
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