GCC Family Businesses: The Hidden Backbone of Gulf Economies

The Gulf's largest non-oil enterprises are overwhelmingly family-owned. The Olayan, Al Rajhi and Bin Laden groups in Saudi Arabia; Al Futtaim, Al Ghurair, Al Habtoor and Al Naboodah in the UAE; Al Kharafi and Alshaya in Kuwait; Al Mana and Al Fardan in Qatar; the Bahwan and Zubair groups in Oman; and Kanoo in Bahrain — together employ hundreds of thousands and operate across construction, retail, automotive, food, finance and real estate.

A generational handover is now under way as founders pass control to second- and third-generation members. This transition is driving record activity in three areas: formal corporate governance (independent boards, family constitutions), partial IPOs of operating subsidiaries (notably in Saudi Arabia and the UAE), and the formation of single-family offices that mirror the architecture of European and US dynastic wealth.

Regulatory tailwinds — including the UAE's family business law and Saudi Arabia's Family Business Council — are professionalising the sector. The next decade will likely see more public listings, succession-driven M&A and cross-border family office consolidation.