Al-Futtaim Group

Al-Futtaim Group

Type	Private
Industry	conglomerate
Founded	1930s
Headquarters	Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Key people	Omar Al Futtaim (CEO)
Number of employees	circa 20,000 (2010)
Subsidiaries	Kolber Geneve; Westar
Website	www.al-futtaim.ae

The Al-Futtaim Group is a large conglomerate operating in the United Arab Emirates.

History

The group was founded in the 1930s and expanded rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s becoming an integrated commercial, industrial, and services organization.^[1]

The Al-Futtaim family split its business interests in 2000 with Abdulla Al Futtaim controlling the automotive and mainly retail business, and his brother Majid controlling a property development business (now known as Majid Al Futtaim Group).^[2]

In September 2013, the group bid $86 million to take full control of the Nairobi-based car retailer CMC Holdings.^[3]

Operations

Al-Futtaim Group employs over 30,000 people^[4] and operates eight divisions comprising automotive, electronics, insurance, services, real estate, retail, industries, and overseas.^[5] The Chairman is Abdulla Al Futtaim who reportedly has close connections with the Ruler of Dubai, Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Sheik Maktoum mediated a settlement between Abdulla Al Futtaim and his rival, cousin Majid Al Futtaim, in 2000 which split the assets, liabilities and operations of the then-larger Al Futtaim Group.^[6] Abdulla Al Futtaim is estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $1.6 billion as at March 2012 ranking him as the 804th richest person in the world, and third richest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).^[7] Prior to the Global Financial Crisis Abdulla Al Futtaim was worth nearly twice his current wealth. In 2007 Forbes ranked him as the 287th richest person in the world with a net worth of $3 billion and said his conglomerate was so large and profitable that it could account for 15% of Dubai's gross domestic product.^[8] The CEO of Al-Futtaim Group was Robert Willett^[9] until he suddenly resigned in January 2011. After that Omar Al-Futtaim became a Board Member, CEO & Vice Chairman ^[10][11]

Al Futtaim's businesses include Kolber Geneve^[12] and Westar.^[13]

References