Business leaders, megastar musicians, inspirational women and respected scholars all know what it is like to wield power. Their influence over vast swathes of the population can have direct impact in a number of ways, be it financial, commercial, ethical, behavioural or something else altogether. For the fifth year running Gulf Business counts down the most powerful Arabs from across the world
| Rank | Name | Title | Origin | Company | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Chairman | Kingdom Holding | Finance | |
| 2 | HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum | Chairman | UAE | Emirates/Emirates NBD | Transport |
| 3 | Carlos Slim Helu | Chairman and CEO | Lebanon | Telmex, America Movil, Grupo Carso | Telecoms |
| 4 | Joseph Safra | Chairman | Syria | Safra Group | Banking |
| 5 | Khalid Al Falih | Chairman | KSA | Aramco | Energy |
| 6 | Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi | UAE | UAE Minister of international cooperation and development | Diversified | |
| 7 | Yousef Al Benyan | Vice chairman and acting CEO | KSA | SABIC | Industry |
| 8 | Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair | CEO | UAE | Mashreq | Finance |
| 9 | Mohamed Alabbar | Chairman | UAE | Emaar | Real estate |
| 10 | Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak | CEO and managing director | UAE | Mubadala | Finance |
| 11 | Carlos Ghosn | Chairman and CEO | Lebanon | Renault/Nissan | Industry |
| 12 | Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah | President | Mauritania | Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslims Societies | Religion |
| 13 | Akbar Al Baker | CEO | Qatar | Qatar Airways | Transport |
| 14 | Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber | Chairman and CEO | KSA | MBI International | Real estate |
| 15 | Noura Al Kaabi | CEO | UAE | twofour54 | Media |
| 16 | Lubna Olayan | Deputy chairperson and CEO | KSA | Olayan Financing Company | Finance |
| 17 | Saad Sherida Al Kaabi | President and CEO/ MD and chairman | Qatar | Qatar Petroleum/Industries Qatar | Industry |
| 18 | Hassan Abdullah Al Thawadi | Secretary general | Qatar | Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee | Culture and society |
| 19 | Mansour Saleh Al Maiman | Chairman | KSA | National Commercial Bank | Finance |
| 20 | Mohamed Ebrahim Al Shaibani | CEO | UAE | Investment Corporation of Dubai | Finance |
| 21 | Dr Mohammad Nasser Al Ahbabi | Director general | UAE | UAE Space Agency | Space |
| 22 | Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Bin Saud Al Thani | CEO | Qatar | Qatar Investment Authority | Finance |
| 23 | Ali Shareef Al Emadi | Minister of finance, chairman | Qatar | QNB | Finance |
| 24 | Mohamed Mansour | Chairman | Egypt | Mansour Group | Diversified |
| 25 | Sheikh Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al Rajhi | Chairman | KSA | Al Rajhi Bank | Finance |
| 26 | Naguib Sawiris | Chairman | Egypt | Orascom | Telecoms/technology |
| 27 | Nasser Al Khelaifi | Chairman and CEO | Qatar | BeIN Media Group, Qatar Sports Investment, Paris Saint-Germain | Sport |
| 28 | Mohammed Bin Abdulmalik Al Sheikh | Chairman | KSA | Capital Market Authority | Financial |
| 29 | Bakr bin Laden | Chairman | KSA | Saudi Binladin Group | Real estate |
| 30 | HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser | Chairwoman | Qatar | Qatar Foundation | Culture and society |
| 31 | Mohammed Al Barwani | Founder and chairman | Oman | MB Holding | Energy |
| 32 | Khalaf Al Habtoor | Chairman | UAE | Al Habtoor Group | Real estate |
| 33 | Mohammed Alshaya | Chairman | Kuwait | MH Alshaya | Retail |
| 34 | Majid Al Futtaim | President | UAE | Majid Al Futtaim | Diversified |
| 35 | Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi | Director general | UAE | ADNOC | Energy |
| 36 | Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar | Group CEO | UAE | Etisalat | Telecoms |
| 37 | Ahmad Belhoul | CEO | UAE | Masdar | Energy |
| 38 | Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani | CEO | Qatar | Qatargas | Energy |
| 39 | Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji | CEO | Bahrain | Mumtalakat | Real estate |
| 40 | Abdalla Salem El-Badri | Secretary general | Libya | OPEC | Energy |
| 41 | Omar K Alghanim | CEO | Kuwait | Alghanim Industries | Industry |
| 42 | Reem Al Hashemi | UAE Minister of state/managing director | UAE | Dubai World Expo 2020 | Diversified |
| 43 | Sheikh Saud Bin Nassr Al Thani | Group CEO | Qatar | Ooredoo | Telecoms |
| 44 | Maher Zain | Singer | Lebanon | Music | |
| 45 | Sheikh Saleh Kamel | Chairman | KSA | Dallah Albaraka | Finance |
| 47 | Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem | Chairman | UAE | DP World, Ports Customs and Free Zone Corporation | Industry |
| 47 | Sheikha Mayassa Bint Al Thani | Chairwoman | Qatar | Qatar Museums Authority | Culture and society |
| 48 | Ronaldo Mouchawar | Co-founder and CEO | Syria | Souq.com | Technology/retail |
| 49 | Bassem Yousef | Cardiac surgeon | Egypt | satirist and columnist | Culture and society |
| 50 | Dr Amina Al Rustamani | Group CEO | UAE | TECOM Investments | Real estate |