The 15 richest people in Dubai — royals, developers, and the ones you've never heard of
Hussain Sajwani is the richest person in Dubai, with an estimated net worth of $15.3 billion. He tops the list thanks to the success of DAMAC Properties, one of the UAE's leading luxury real estate developers. Other wealthy figures, including Pavel Durov, M.A. Yusuff Ali, and Joy Alukkas, also rank among Dubai's richest individuals.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Key takeaways
- The 15 richest people in Dubai ranked by net worth in 2026
- 15. Philip Day ($1.2 billion)
- 14. Sunil Vaswani ($1.6 billion)
- 13. Saif Al Ghurair & family ($1.7 billion)
- 12. Shamsheer Vayalil ($1.8 billion)
- 11. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor ($2.3 billion)
- 10. Sunny Varkey ($4 billion)
- 9. Ravi Pillai ($4.2 billion)
- 8. Feroz Allana ($4.4 billion)
- 7. Abdulla Al Futtaim & family ($4.6 billion)
- 6. Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family ($4.7 billion)
- 5. Joy Alukkas ($5 billion)
- 4. Micky Jagtiani Family ($5.2 billion)
- 3. M.A. Yusuff Ali ($5.5 billion)
- 2. Pavel Durov ($6.6 billion)
- 1. Hussain Sajwani ($15.3 billion)
- Who is the no. 1 richest person in Dubai?
- How many billionaires does Dubai have?
- Who is Dubai's richest family?
- Who is richer, Dubai Prince or Elon Musk?
Key takeaways
- Hussain Sajwani leads the list of Dubai's wealthiest, with an estimated net worth of $15.3 billion, having built a real estate empire through DAMAC Properties.
- Dubai has also attracted high-profile international billionaires, including Telegram founder Pavel Durov, whose estimated net worth is $6.6 billion.
- Joy Alukkas turned his family's jewellery business into Joyalukkas, a global brand, building an estimated $5 billion fortune.
The 15 richest people in Dubai ranked by net worth in 2026
To rank the 15 richest people in Dubai in 2026, we relied on net worth estimates from reputable wealth trackers. As these figures fluctuate with stock markets, private business valuations, and currency exchange rates, the rankings are based on publicly available data from sources including Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Members of Dubai's ruling family are excluded because their wealth is not independently verified in the same way as private business fortunes and is generally considered separate from private wealth rankings.
Name | Net worth | Primary source of wealth |
Hussain Sajwani | $15.3B | Real estate |
Pavel Durov | $6.6B | Technology |
M.A. Yusuff Ali | $5.5B | Retail |
Micky Jagtiani & Family | $5.2B | Retail & Hospitality |
Joy Alukkas | $5.0B | Jewellery |
Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair | $4.7B | Finance |
Abdulla Al Futtaim & family | $4.6B | Conglomerate |
Feroz Allana | $4.4B | Food & Agribusiness |
Ravi Pillai | $4.2B | Engineering & Construction |
Sunny Varkey | $4.0B | Education |
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor | $2.3B | Conglomerate |
Shamsheer Vayalil | $1.8B | Healthcare |
Saif Al Ghurair | $1.7B | Conglomerate |
Sunil Vaswani | $1.6B | Conglomerate |
Philip Day | $1.2B | Retail fashion |
15. Philip Day ($1.2 billion)
- Full name: Philip Edward Day
- Date of birth: October 1965
- Age: 60 years old (as of July 2026)
- Nationality: British
- Profession: Founder and CEO of Peacocks and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $1.2 billion (Estimated)
Philip Edward Day is a British entrepreneur based in Dubai and the owner of Peacocks and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill. After leaving school, he built his career in the clothing industry, working for companies including Coats Viyella and Wensum before becoming joint managing director of Aquascutum.
In 2001, Day led a management buyout of The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and acquired the company outright in 2002, transforming it into a major retail group. He expanded his portfolio by acquiring well-known British brands, including Peacocks, Bonmarche, Ponden Home, Austin Reed, Jane Norman, Country Casuals, and Jaeger.
14. Sunil Vaswani ($1.6 billion)
- Full name: Sunil Vaswani
- Date of birth: 11 July 1963
- Age: 63 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Chairman, Stallion Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $1.6 billion (Estimated)
Sunil Vaswani is an Indian-born Nigerian businessman and the chairman of Stallion Group, a Dubai-headquartered conglomerate. He took over the family business at the age of 21, expanding its operations across West Africa before establishing Dubai as the group's global headquarters in 2003.
Today, Stallion Group operates across the automotive, commodities, food, steel, plastics, packaging, petrochemicals, port operations, and technology sectors. The company also runs vehicle assembly plants and dealerships representing brands such as Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Porsche.
It has also invested in food production and agricultural infrastructure across emerging markets.
13. Saif Al Ghurair & family ($1.7 billion)
- Full name: Saif Ahmad Al Ghurair
- Date of birth: 1924
- Date of death: 27 August 2019 (aged 95)
- Nationality: Emirati
- Profession: Founder, Al Ghurair Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $1.7 billion (Estimated)
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Saif Ahmad Al Ghurair was an Emirati billionaire businessman and founder of the Dubai-based Al Ghurair Group. He helped transform the family business from traditional trading into one of the UAE's leading industrial and real estate conglomerates.
Saif oversaw the group's expansion into real estate, manufacturing, and banking. He developed landmark projects such as Al Ghurair Centre, Dubai's first shopping mall, and established businesses including Al Ghurair Iron & Steel.
Following his death in 2019, the family's business interests continued under structured corporate governance and family trusts, preserving the group's long-term role in the UAE's economy.
12. Shamsheer Vayalil ($1.8 billion)
- Full name: Shamsheer Vayalil Parambath
- Date of birth: 11 January 1977
- Age: 49 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Founder and Chairman, Burjeel Holdings
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $1.8 billion (Estimated)
Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil is an Indian-born billionaire entrepreneur, radiologist, and philanthropist based in the UAE. He founded Burjeel Holdings in Abu Dhabi in 2007. The company has grown into one of the Middle East's leading private healthcare providers, operating hospitals, medical centres, and specialist clinics across the UAE, Oman, and the wider Gulf region.
Under his leadership, Burjeel Holdings expanded through brands including Burjeel, Medeor, LLH Hospital, and Lifecare before listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). Vayalil also became one of the first non-Western billionaires and the first Gulf healthcare billionaire to sign The Giving Pledge, pledging most of his wealth to charity.
11. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor ($2.3 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor
- Date of birth: 1949
- Age: 77 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Emirati
- Profession: Chairman and CEO, Al Habtoor Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $2.3 billion (Estimated)
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor is an Emirati businessman, the founder and chairman of Al Habtoor Group, and a former member of the Federal National Council. He established the company as a small engineering firm in 1970 before growing it into one of the Middle East's leading conglomerates.
Al Habtoor Group operates across hospitality, automotive, real estate, education, and publishing. Its portfolio includes landmark developments such as Al Habtoor City, the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, and Al Habtoor Polo Resort.
Through Al Habtoor Motors, the group distributes brands including Mitsubishi, JAC, Chery, Bentley, Bugatti, and Rimac in the UAE. The company also runs educational institutions, including Emirates International School, and maintains a media and publishing division.
10. Sunny Varkey ($4 billion)
- Full name: Sunny Varkey
- Date of birth: 9 April 1957
- Age: 69 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Founder and Executive Chairman, GEMS Education
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $4 billion (Estimated)
Sunny Varkey is an Indian education entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Dubai. His parents, K.S. and Mariama Varkey, moved from Kerala, India, to Dubai in 1959 and founded Our Own English High School in 1968.
Varkey took over the school's management in 1980 at the age of 23. He later transformed it into GEMS Education, now the world's largest operator of private K–12 schools.
Varkey also founded the Varkey Foundation to promote education, support teacher development, and raise the status of the teaching profession. For his contributions to education, He received India's Padma Shri and was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education Partnerships.
9. Ravi Pillai ($4.2 billion)
- Full name: B. Ravi Pillai
- Date of birth: 2 September 1953
- Age: 72 (as of July 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Chairman and MD, RP Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $4.2 billion (Estimated)
B. Ravi Pillai is an Indian-born billionaire businessman and the chairman of RP Group of Companies. Raised in rural Kerala, he faced early business setbacks before moving to Saudi Arabia in 1978 to pursue new opportunities. There, he built RP Group into one of the Middle East's leading industrial engineering and construction companies, serving major oil, gas, and petrochemical clients.
As the business grew, Pillai expanded the group into hospitality, healthcare, and real estate across the Middle East and beyond. Now based in Dubai, he oversees a global business empire with operations spanning the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other international markets, making him one of the region's most influential business leaders.
8. Feroz Allana ($4.4 billion)
- Full name: Feroz Allana
- Date of birth: 1955
- Age: 71 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Founder, IFFCO Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $4.4 billion (Estimated)
Feroz Allana is an Indian-born billionaire businessman and a key leader of IFFCO Group, one of the Middle East's largest consumer goods and food manufacturing companies. Since joining the UAE business in 1975, he has helped grow the Sharjah-headquartered company into a global enterprise.
Under his leadership, IFFCO has expanded to more than 100 countries with well-known brands including Tiffany, London Dairy, Noor, and Al Baker. His success has made him one of Dubai's wealthiest entrepreneurs and a prominent figure in the global food and FMCG industry.
7. Abdulla Al Futtaim & family ($4.6 billion)
- Full name: Abdulla Al Futtaim
- Date of birth: 1940
- Age: 86 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Emirati
- Profession: Founder, Al-Futtaim Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $4.6 billion (Estimated)
Abdulla Al Futtaim is an Emirati billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist, and owner of Al-Futtaim Group, which is run by his son, Omar. Under his leadership, the company has grown into one of the Middle East's largest private conglomerates, with interests in automotive, real estate, financial services, healthcare, and technology.
The group is the exclusive distributor of brands including Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Volvo, and Jeep in the UAE and other markets. It has also developed major mixed-use projects such as Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City, helping shape the region's retail and urban landscape.
6. Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family ($4.7 billion)
- Full name: Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair
- Date of birth: 1930
- Age: 96 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Emirati
- Profession: Founder, Mashreqbank
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $4.7 billion (Estimated)
Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair is an Emirati billionaire businessman and the founder and chairman of Mashreq, one of the UAE's leading banks. In 1967, he established Mashreq Bank, originally known as the Bank of Oman, and helped grow it into one of the region's largest financial institutions.
Beyond banking, the Al Ghurair family's businesses have expanded into real estate, construction, and heavy industry. Their engineering ventures contributed to landmark projects, including the exterior of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Metro. Al Ghurair also founded the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation in 2015.
5. Joy Alukkas ($5 billion)
- Full name: Alukkas Varghese Joy
- Date of birth: 1956
- Age: 70 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Chairman, Joyalukkas Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $5 billion (Estimated)
Joy Alukkas transformed his family's traditional jewellery business into Joyalukkas, one of the world's leading jewellery retail brands. Headquartered in Dubai, the company has grown to more than 200 showrooms across 13 countries, including the UAE, India, the UK, the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
Joyalukkas specialises in gold, diamond, platinum, and silver jewellery and offers exclusive collections such as Pride, Yuva, Ratna, Apurva, and Veda. Beyond jewellery retail, the group also operates Joyalukkas Exchange, a financial services and money remittance business with dozens of branches across the Middle East.
4. Micky Jagtiani Family ($5.2 billion)
- Full name: Mukesh Wadhumal "Micky" Jagtiani
- Date of birth: 15 August 1952
- Date of death: 26 May 2023 (aged 70)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Founder, Landmark Group
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $5.2 billion (Estimated)
Micky Jagtiani was an Indian-born billionaire entrepreneur who founded the Landmark Group, one of the largest retail and hospitality companies in the Middle East, Africa, and India. After moving to Bahrain in 1973, he took over a small baby-care products shop before relocating the company's headquarters to Dubai in the early 1990s.
Under his leadership, Landmark Group expanded into a retail empire with brands including Centrepoint, Splash, Babyshop, Shoe Mart, Lifestyle, and Home Centre. The company also introduced hospitality and leisure businesses such as Fitness First and Fun City.
Following Jagtiani's death in 2023, his wife, Renuka Jagtiani, became chairwoman, while the group's LIFE foundation continues to support healthcare, education, and communities
3. M.A. Yusuff Ali ($5.5 billion)
- Full name: Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader
- Date of birth: 15 November 1955
- Age: 70 years old (as of July 2026)
- Nationality: Indian
- Profession: Chairman and MD, LuLu Group International
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $5.5 billion (Estimated)
M.A. Yusuff Ali is one of the richest Indians and serves as the chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International. He moved to Abu Dhabi in 1973 to join his uncle's small trading and wholesale distribution business. Yusuff later expanded it into supermarkets before opening the first LuLu Hypermarket in the UAE in the 1990s.
Under his leadership, LuLu Group grew into a multinational conglomerate operating the LuLu Hypermarket chain, LuLu International Shopping Mall, food processing plants, and logistics hubs across multiple countries. Reflecting its scale and success, LuLu Retail later completed a major public offering on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
2. Pavel Durov ($6.6 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Pavel Valeryevich Durov
- Date of birth: 10 October 1984
- Age: 41 years old (as of July 2026)
- Nationality: French/UAE/St. Kitts and Nevis
- Profession: Founder and CEO, Telegram
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $6.6 billion (Estimated)
Pavel Valeryevich Durov is a technology entrepreneur best known as the chief executive officer of Telegram. Born in the Soviet Union, he co-founded the social networking site VKontakte in 2006 at the age of 22. In 2013, he and his brother, Nikolai Durov, launched Telegram as an encrypted messaging app.
After leaving Russia in 2014 following disputes with authorities over data access, Durov moved Telegram's headquarters to Dubai Media City in 2017, making the emirate its global base. Since then, Telegram has grown into a global communication and media platform with more than 1 billion monthly active users.
1. Hussain Sajwani ($15.3 billion)
Source: Getty Images
- Full name: Hussain Ali Sajwani
- Date of birth: 1952
- Age: 74 years old (as of 2026)
- Nationality: Emirati
- Profession: Founder and Chairman, DAMAC Properties
- City: Dubai, UAE
- Net worth: $15.3 billion (Estimated)
Hussain Sajwani is an Emirati billionaire businessman and the founder of DAMAC Properties, one of Dubai's leading real estate developers. Since launching the company in 2002, he has overseen the delivery of tens of thousands of homes, including luxury residential towers, master-planned communities, and hotels.
DAMAC pioneered branded real estate in the Middle East through partnerships with global luxury brands. Its projects feature names such as Versace, Fendi Casa, Cavalli, Bugatti, and Pagani. Although centred in Dubai and the wider UAE, DAMAC has expanded internationally with projects in London, including DAMAC Tower Nine Elms, and across the Middle East.
Who is the no. 1 richest person in Dubai?
The number one richest person in Dubai is Hussain Sajwani, the founder and chairman of DAMAC Properties, with an estimated net worth of $15.3 billion.
How many billionaires does Dubai have?
There is no official figure for the number of billionaires living in Dubai alone. However, The Times of India reports that the United Arab Emirates has 17 resident billionaires, most of whom live in Dubai.
Who is Dubai's richest family?
As of 2026, the Sajwani family is widely regarded as the richest family in Dubai, with an estimated combined net worth of $15.3 billion.
Who is richer, Dubai Prince or Elon Musk?
Elon Musk is significantly wealthier than Dubai's Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. While Sheikh Hamdan's individual net worth is estimated at $1 billion to $2 billion, Elon Musk's fortune is estimated at approximately $708.8 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world.
The richest people in Dubai have built their fortunes through real estate, finance, retail, and investments, helping transform the city into a global business hub. From influential royals and renowned developers to low-profile entrepreneurs, they continue to shape Dubai's economy and global reputation.
Legit.ng recently published an article on the richest man in LA. Peter Thiel climbed from 24th on Los Angeles County's rich list in 2020 to first place in 2025 after his fortune grew significantly.
Of the 100 Californians on the 2025 Forbes 400 list, 23 were Los Angeles County residents, the highest number of any county in the state. Lynda Resnick ranks as the wealthiest woman on Los Angeles' rich list.
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
