Mohamed Alabbar

Mohamed Alabbar (born 8 November 1956) is an Emirati businessman from Dubai, founder of Emaar Properties, the developer of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall. A Seattle University graduate who began at the UAE Central Bank, he was the founding director general of Dubai's Department of Economic Development in 1992 and became a chief economic adviser to the Ruler of Dubai. He also founded Eagle Hills and the e-commerce platform Noon.com and chairs the Americana Group. ^{1 2}

Alabbar was born on 8 November 1956 in Dubai, the eldest of twelve children; his father was the captain of a traditional trading vessel, a dhow, and raised his children in the Rashidiya area of Dubai. ¹ In the 1970s he received a government scholarship to study finance and business administration at the Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University, graduating in 1981 with a degree in business administration. ¹ He received an honorary doctoral degree in humanities from Seattle University in 2007 and served on its board of trustees until 2016. ¹

After college Alabbar began his career with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates as a banking manager, and in 1992 he returned to Dubai to work for the government as the founding director general of the Department of Economic Development. ¹ He became one of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's chief economic advisers, working with the Ruler of Dubai on the development of the emirate's tourism industry and global reputation. ¹ He founded Emaar Properties, whose projects include the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, and has overseen its expansion into residential, retail and hospitality sectors. ^{1 3} He is the founder and chairman of Eagle Hills, a private investment and real estate development company based in Abu Dhabi, the founder of the e-commerce platform Noon.com, and the chairman of the Americana Group and of Zand, Dubai's first digital bank. ¹ He served on the board of Emaar Malls until its 2021 merger with Emaar Properties and sits on the boards of the Noor Investment Group, the American University of Sharjah and the FII Institute. ¹

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