Forbes' list of world's richest people includes 26 Arabs, but no Saudis

This month, Forbes released its annual ranking of the world's richest people ... and not one billionaire from Saudi Arabia made it to the list.

This would be the second year Forbes excludes Saudi nationals from its ranking, with the> first being in 2018. The decision came following the kingdom's> anti-corruption purge. In 2019, the American business magazine did not mention the reason Saudi Arabia was excluded from this year's ranking.

The 2019 Forbes ranking included a record of 2,153 billionaires - of which 26 hail from Arab countries.

Of all Arab countries, the UAE has the highest number of billionaires from one country (7), followed by Egypt (6) and Lebanon (6). 

The richest Emirati is Majid Al Futtaim, who ranked 343th richest person on the planet with a net worth of $5.1 billion.

Al Futtaim is the founder of retailing and entertainment giant Majid Al Futtaim Holding - which owns and operates 12 hotels and 22 malls.

Though the UAE has the highest number of Arab billionaires, it is not home to the richest Arab. Egyptian Nassef Sawiris is the Arab world's richest man.

Apart from running Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), one of the world's largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, Sawiris has stakes in Adidas and LafargeHolcim.

The majority of the Arab billionaires hail from three countries: UAE, Egypt, and Lebanon. However, nationals from other GCC nations and North African countries made it to the ranking as well. Here's a breakdown of where the 26 Arab billionaires on this year's list hail from:

• UAE (7)
• Egypt (6)
• Lebanon (6) 
• Oman (2)
• Morocco (2)
• Algeria (1) 
• Qatar (1)
• Kuwait (1) 

1. Egyptian Nassef Sawiris (No. 252 globally, Net Worth $6.4B)
2. Emirati Majid Al Futtaim (No. 343, Net Worth $5.1B) 
   
3. Emirati Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair (No. 413, Net Worth $4.6B)
   
4. Algerian Issad Rebrab (No. 568, Net Worth $3.7B) 
   
5. Egyptian Naguib Sawiris (No. 775, Net Worth$2.9B)
   

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos - whose net worth amounts to $131B - outranked Bill Gates - whose net worth is $96.5B - again.