Some Arab billionaires

Owning a massive business(es) and having a wealth that gets you a spot on Forbes' ranking of the richest people in the world every year surely comes with lots of ups and downs. No wonder the global media company now keeps track of real-time billionaires. Not a single person from Saudi Arabia is on the 2020 real-time billionaires list, but that's because Forbes stopped acknowledging Saudi billionaires two years ago. 

What is the real-time billionaire list? Forbes' ranking tracks the daily fluctuations of the world's richest people. The platform provides continuous updates (every five minutes) on the net worth and ranking of each individual who Forbes considers a billionaire. Saudi nationals are no longer part of the latter. 

But there are countless of other Arabs who are considered real-time billionaires as of Jan. 23. Though he's technically not listed under Lebanon in the ranking, Carlos Slim Helú - born in Mexico to Lebanese parents - is the only "Arab" to make it to the top 10. He ranked eighth on the list, with a net worth of $67.2B. At the time of writing, his worth was up $19M. And if you thought Lebanese billionaires would be witnessing a "loss" in their net worth due to the financial, economic, and social situation in the country, you were definitely wrong. 

Source: Forbes

Two Lebanese businessmen - the Mikati brothers (Taha and Najib) - have actually witnessed a $1M spike in their net worth at the time of writing. 

Aside from Lebanon, the list has no shortage of Arabs. In fact, there are 22 Arabs whose net worth is being monitored in real-time by Forbes. All numbers and figures are based on statistics taken at the time of writing. 

Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris is considered to be the richest Arab, with a net worth of $8B, witnessing a spike of $10M at the time of writing. We can call him a "winner" as per Forbes' jargon. The biggest "loser" in the Arab world in real-time (as per the list) is Emirati businessman Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair whose net worth went down $66M in real-time. 

A breakdown of Arab billionaires by country & net worth

United Arab Emirates 

  • Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family (No. 557). Net Worth $4.2B, down $66M in real-time 
  • Abdulla Al Futtaim & family (No. 1023). Net Worth $2.5B, up $13M in real-time
  • Majid Al Futtaim & family (No. 1308). Net Worth $2B, $0 change in real-time 
  • Hussain Sajwani (No. 1452). Net Worth $1.8B, up $1M in real-time 

Lebanon

  • Taha Mikati (No. 1035). Net Worth $2.5B, up $1M in real-time
  • Najib Mikati (No. 1045). Net Worth $2.5B, up $1M in real-time 
  • Bahaa Hariri (No. 1284). Net Worth $2B, $0 change in real-time
  • Robert Mouawad & family (No. 1652). Net Worth $1.5B, $0 change in real-time
  • Ayman Hariri (No. 1862). Net Worth $1.3B, $0 change in real-time 
  • Fahed Hariri (No. 2058). Net Worth $1.1B, $0 change in real-time 

Egypt

  • Nassef Sawiris (No. 229). Net Worth $8B, up $10M in real-time  
  • Mohamed Mansour (No. 777). Net Worth $3.3B, up $1M in real-time  
  • Naguib Sawiris (No. 851). Net Worth $3B, up $1M in real-time 
  • Yasseen Mansour (No. 1155). Net Worth $2.3B, up $1M in real-time  
  • Youssef Mansour (No. 1393). Net Worth $1.9B, $0 change in real-time
  • Mohamed Al Fayed (No. 1649). Net Worth $1.5B, $0 change in real-time
Naguib Sawiris Source: Forbes

Qatar

  • Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani (No. 1773). Net Worth $1.4B, down $2M in real-time

Oman

  • Suhail Bahwan (No. 897). Net Worth $2.9B, up $1M in real-time 

Morocco

  • Aziz Akhannouch & family (No. 1527). Net Worth $1.7B, $0 change in real-time 
  • Othman Benjelloun & family (No. 1763). Net Worth $1.4B, up $2M in real-time

Kuwait 

  • Kutayba Alghanim (No. 1892). Net Worth $1.3B, $0 change in real-time

Algeria 

  • Issad Rebrab & family (No. 528). Net Worth $4.3B, $0 change in real-time