In the world of business, there are those who follow the rules and those who carve out their own path by rewriting them entirely. Ghassan Aboud, a maverick mogul, falls into the latter category.
The journalist-turned-business titan’s journey into the world of business has been nothing short of extraordinary as he set out to disrupt one industry at a time. With an innate ability to spot opportunities in places where no one would go looking, he has disrupted industries and amassed a global empire that transcends boundaries. Aboud’s remarkable success showcases the power of vision and audacity, reminding us that true success knows no boundaries.
Starting out as a journalist, Aboud began to delve deeper into the world of global trade, travelling to Hong Kong to learn more about trade routes where he began to discover an innate entrepreneurial spirit that led him to embark on a new chapter as a business mogul in 1994.
Aboud’s journey stands as a testament to his unwavering belief in the transformative power of calculated decision-making. Embracing risk with unwavering resolve, he fearlessly ventured into uncharted territories, revolutionising industries and constructing an empire that defied conventional wisdom, methodically building it one company at a time.
Today, his audacious vision and relentless pursuit of innovation have firmly established him as a true force to be reckoned with, continuously redefining the rules of success and shaping the business landscape with unparalleled finesse. Remarkably, Aboud attributes his exceptional achievements to a seemingly simple yet potent force: Logic.
“The key is logic. I now own 29 companies in nine different industries. I have always used logic,” Aboud tells Arabian Business. “I always try to build my team by making sure they understand my perspective when it comes to business.”
As the mastermind behind the Ghassan Aboud Group, he has demonstrated an unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit by venturing into industries brimming with untapped potential.
“A lot of businessmen have experience, but they don’t know how to do business so it’s not just about having the experience. I use logic in all aspects of life and look for opportunities, things that are not available, and try to create something to fill this gap.”
Hailing from a bloodline of merchants and traders from Syria, Aboud says that being a businessman is intricately woven into his DNA. “Most of our lives were about commerce and trade. My father, my ancestors were all traders and merchants. We never really knew much about agriculture or production.”
Aboud, chairman of the group, considers himself fortunate by relocating to the UAE in 1992, during a period he describes as a transformative cultural shift. “The UAE was considered a third-world country, but it certainly did not fall under that category. There was a shift in behaviour at the time,” he recalls. As a young journalist in the 90s, Aboud’s fascination with the “markets of the new world” and the burgeoning domain of re-exports began to take shape.
He started doing his own research in the field of re-exports in 1993, when there wasn’t much information available but, according to him, there was “hope and vision that the UAE would become, through Dubai, a renowned market in the re-export space.”
Hong Kong was the global trade hub at the time, but in 1997 when Britain’s colonisation ended and it had to go back to China, no one could have imaged that the entirety of China would become somewhat like Hong Kong, he says.
“I travelled to China and Hong Kong and I tried to understand how they worked. When I decided to start working and figure out what I can do, there was a new generation coming out of the UAE, especially in Dubai, and Jebel Ali was thriving and growing quickly until it became one of the world’s top 10 ports in such a short space of time.”
This new generation was seen in several government sectors, he says, including the Dubai Chamber of Commerce among many others.
Riding the waves of opportunity
Business began to thrive in the UAE, more than was expected, between 1994 and 1996.
“These were big waves of business,” the Syrian billionaire says as he reflected on those times. “If anyone told me that Dubai would become what it was in the year 2000, I wouldn’t have believed.”
Embracing the ever-changing tides, he allowed the ebb and flow of the current to shape his entrepreneurial journey. “I was working in the media industry, so I was directly informed with every wave of business. I eventually entered the business world in 1994, but with each wave, I worked hard to improve, learn more and upskill myself. And now, the Ghassan Aboud Group is one of the most prominent business conglomerates in the UAE and the Middle East.”
The group now encompasses a diverse portfolio of industries spanning automotive, retail, food, logistics, healthcare, pharmaceutical, media, ecommerce and hospitality. In the automotive sector, they own and operate a range of companies. The companies collectively operate in over 100 countries and cater to diverse customer needs from used cars to lubricants and auto parts.
The food and retail divisions of the group include Grandiose supermarkets, Grandiose Catering and Olive Country, providing exceptional shopping experiences with a wide array of high-quality products.
The Ghassan Aboud Group has made great strides in many other industries, but most recently in the hospitality sector, which Aboud says there will be more to come as it continues to expand rapidly.
“I started with this project in 2016, I have invested $1bn in Australia and now I own eight hotels, which have around 2,000 suites, in addition to the Crystalbrook Collection, which is a five-star hospitality group,” he says.
Since its inception in 2016, the visionary Syrian billionaire has steered the remarkable rise of the Crystalbrook Collection, a distinctive hospitality management company that has left an indelible mark on the Australian hotel landscape. Through strategic acquisitions, the group has meticulously crafted a portfolio of exquisite resorts and hotels.
The group has also entered into two key public-private partnerships with the Abu Dhabi Ports Group – the Abu Dhabi Food Hub – KEZAD and the Global Auto Hub. The projects are significantly sized at 3.3 sq km each and will create full-fledged ecosystems for the food and automotive industries unmatched in the region.
“The UAE understood that locking the city down for too long like other governments was a bad idea and luckily, they recovered quite quickly. The UAE has now become the number one business, financial and trade hub. The UAE’s diligence to make the right decisions ensured that it turned this disaster which happened in Europe, Australia and some parts of China into a global hub for intelligence. We have seen lots of people, including wealthy people, who have left these countries to come here which brought in a new movement to the UAE, yet another wave of business.”
Demonstrating their unwavering ambition, the group made headlines with the recent acquisition of the prestigious Rydges Sydney Harbour Hotel, a coveted investment amounting to approximately $100m.
“I will surprise you with some key announcements next year.”
Aboud adds that he plans to expand his hospitality business to the UAE and the wider Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia and Oman. “My hospitality business didn’t suffer much during the lockdown. The first year of the pandemic was difficult, but lots of people stayed in my hotels so it boosted domestic tourism. I had four resorts in Australia which were always full.”
Because the group operates across so many different industries and countries, they balanced each other out during the pandemic.
Aboud’s story is one of vision, audacity, and unyielding determination. It serves as a reminder that success knows no boundaries when guided by logic, tenacity, and an unwavering belief in one’s own ability to reshape industries and redefine the rules of the game.
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