In 1976 he launched Kuwaiti conglomerate the National Company for Mechanical and Electrical Works, and the Al Kharafi Group is now a major player in engineering, construction and maintenance, focusing on petroleum, water, chemicals and power.

The family owns a lucrative 30% stake in Atheer Telecom, which owns a mobile licence for Southern Iraq, and in October bought more shares in Mobile Telecommunications Corporation (Zain), through one of its units. Al-Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate, which belongs to the family-owned conglomerate, now holds 9.59% of Zain. It previously held around 9.46% of Kuwait’s biggest stock.

The company’s other contracts include a US$110m Beirut hotel, a US$200m golf and residential development in South Africa, and a US$400m sewage plant in Kuwait. The family-owned, Disney-esque Port Galib resort on Egypt’s Red Sea coast attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world each year, and Al Kharafi’s 16% stake in The National Bank of Kuwait has seen handsome returns over the past 12 months.

Offsetting this, however, has been a much-publicised spat with the Kuwaiti bourse – a row that was significant enough to initially trigger a sell-off on the bourse in late 2006. The bourse had banned the Al Kharafi Group in November 2006 from using the exchange to trade shares in 10 firms, for violating a rule that requires investors to disclose holdings of 5% or more. Now that the ban has been lifted, the way is open for the family-owned conglomerate to seek compensation – and this, as well as the freedom to trade freely again, should be reflected in next year’s list.