Abdullah Al Futtaim can realistically lay claim to being ‘king of the road’ in the Gulf – Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Dodge, Volvo, Jeep and Chrysler are among the brand names in the Al Futtaim stable. And having built his fortune in the automobile business in the region, Abdullah Al Futtaim has since steered his investment company into real estate on a massive scale.
The Al Futtaim family split its empire into two parts in early 2000 and Abdullah’s brother Majid Al Futtaim concentrated on developing the Mall of the Emirates opposite Dubai Internet City, which famously features the Middle East’s first indoor ski slope. Meanwhile, Dubai Festival City opened the way for Abdullah to tap into the UAE’s soaring real estate development market.
Of course, it has been a torrid twelve months for real estate in Dubai and Abdullah’s wealth has suffered accordingly. Nevertheless he will be looking forward to 2010 with some optimism as Al Futtaim Group has a diverse business portfolio which comprises automotive, electronics, retail, watches and jewellery, travel, construction, engineering, marketing communications, logistics, insurance and real estate.
The group has business interests in Pakistan and Europe, and today it represents many of the world’s leading brands, including Panasonic, Toshiba, Sanyo, Aftron, Alcatel, IKEA, Ace, Marks & Spencer, Toys R Us, Seiko, Raymond Weil, Westar, Kolber and Minato Pearls.
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