Author: Prakash Advani

Yusuff Ali M A

Posted on by Prakash Advani

Yusuff Ali M A is the Chairman and Managing Director of LuLu Group International, which operates over 100 retail outlets like hypermarkets, supermarkets and grocery outlets in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. His business interests also include conference centres and luxury hotels in India.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, business portfolio of LuLu Group International ranges from hypermarket operations to shopping mall development, manufacturing and trading of goods, hospitality assets, and real estate.

Deloitte has ranked the Group as one of the ten fastest growing retailers in the world. LuLu Group has annual turnover of USD 7.4 billion and staff force of more than 50,000.

The group is planning to invest  Rs2,500 crore in Telangana this year in three projects – a fruit and vegetable processing unit, an integrated meat processing unit and a modern shopping mall in Hyderabad.

He was the first expatriate to get elected by the UAE business community as the Director Board member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ADCCI). He was also unanimously elected by the Board members as the Vice-chairman of the prestigious Trade Committee of the ADCCI. In 2009 he was re-elected to the Director Board of ADCCI. In the year 2014 he was again re-elected for a third time and he is the only non-Arab to be elected to the Director Board of ADCCI consecutively for a record third time.

With a net worth of $2.4bn, he ranks 737 in the world and 30 in India in the Forbes list of billionaires.

He was elected as the Director Board member of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ADCCI). He was the first expatriate elected to the Director Board.

Base: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Base in India: Nattika, Thrissur district,  Kerala

Age: 59

Family: Married to Shabira Yusuffali and has three daughters.

Education:  Diploma in Business Management & Administration

Other positions:

•          Director –Air Kerala International Services Ltd

•          Member of Central Wakf Council, Government of India

•          Former Director – Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (KSIDC) (2002 – 2014)

•          Director – Cochin International Airport Limited. He recently raised his stake by acquiring five lakh CIAL shares held by Thrissur-based Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd.

•          Director – Kannur International Airport Ltd. (KIAL)

•          Vice Chairman – Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA ROOTS), Govt. of Kerala

•          Corporate Member – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)

•          National Council Member – Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Co-Chairman – CII Gulf Committee

Linkedin: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/yusuffalima

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Yusuffali.MA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yusuffali_ma

Ravi Pillai

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Chairman and Managing Director of the RP Group of Companies, a global conglomerate consisting of constructions (primarily oil & gas industrial contracting and premium civil contracting), hospitality, health care and wellness, education, shopping malls, trading, travels and IT companies with a combined turnover of more than US$ 5 billion.

Coming from a farming family Pillai started his first business when he was doing his graduation. He started a chit fund with borrowed money. Later he branched into taking construction contracts.

Later due to a labour strike he was forced to closed down his business and migrate to Saudi Arabia in search of opportunities. His group has business interest in Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE. Recently they have ventured out into Africa, Australia and India.

The group has twenty two companies under its fold in various sectors in fifteen cities across seven countries and employs over 80,000 people making it one of the major employers worldwide.

Pillai’s group has announced real estate projects worth $1.5 billion in Dubai. These include a Crowne Plaza hotel due to open in 2016 and a 110-story tower that will be Dubai’s second tallest.  

Forbes listed him, in 2014, in the The World’s Billionaires at 988 in the world and 30 in India. Arabian Business ranked him as the fourth most powerful Indian in the Middle East in 2014.

Base: Bahrain

Base in India: Chavara, Kollam District in Kerala

Age: 62

Family: Married with two kids – Ganesh Ravi Pillai and Dr Aarathi Ravi Pillai

Education:  Business Administration from Cochin University

Business interests:

•          RP Group hold stakes in hotels like Leela Kovalam, Hotel Raviz, Kollam, and WelcomHotel Raviz Kadavu, Kozhikode in Kerala.

•          He owns the K Mall in Kollam and RP Mall in Kozhikode.

•          He owns Upasana Hospital and Research Centre, a 300 bed multispecialty hospital in Kollam.

•          His group owns Upasana School and College of Nursing.

•          He has also branched out into education with schools in Saudi, Bahrain and UAE.

Achievements:

•          Holds a doctoral degree (Honoris Causa) from the Excelsior College, New York.

 •         He was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Government of India in 2008.

•          In 2010 he was honoured with Padma Shri.

Linkedin: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/ravi-pillai-a89301168

Natarajan Venkatakrishnan

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NatrajanVenkatNatarajan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) is the  Director of Research & Development for GE Appliances, since 2006. He also leads FirstBuild, an open source micro-manufacturing to create a new world of home appliances. He has more than 25 patent filings to date.

Based in Louisville, KY, US

Education:   B.Tech degree in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India.

Family: Wife Chitra, have two children.

Interests: running, marathon,

Other activities:

On the board of the Louisville Regional Science & Engineering Fair, Dupont Manual Science Fair and the Kentucky Statewide EPSCoR Committee.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=56130439

Sanjay Shah

Posted on by Prakash Advani

Founder, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Architect, Vistex, Inc. Vistex is estimated to be valued at US$200 Million.

Has homes in Germany and India and recently bought a a penthouse on 89th floor at the Trump Tower in Chicago, US for $17 Million from Donald Trump.

Sanjay Shah  worked at Accounting and Logistics roles before joining SAP as an Applications Consultant in 1993. At SAP he worked for 6 years as a Platinum Consultant and Logistics Developer and contributed to over 80 SAP projects.

Education:

  • B Com from Sydenham collage
  • CA
  • MBA from Lehigh University

Idol: Lee Lacocca, Chairman Chrysler