HE Mohamed Alabbar In 2016, Alabbar went from UAE real estate heavyweight at the head of Emaar and Eagle Hills to a big name in food and e-commerce after several acquisitions. He started the year by announcing a new landmark tower project in Dubai designed to be taller than Emaar’s Burj Khalifa as part of the Creek Harbour… In 2016, Alabbar went from UAE real estate heavyweight at the head of Emaar and Eagle Hills to a big name in food and e-commerce after several acquisitions. He started the year by announcing a new landmark tower project in Dubai designed to be taller than Emaar’s Burj Khalifa as part of the Creek Harbour development and later caught headlines with a number of interesting acquisitions. These included a $138.6m joint venture with fashion retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter, the $2.35bn acquisition of Kuwait’s Americana by his Adeptio investment firm and the purchase of a minority stake in logistics company Aramex as part of an investment group. The trusted advisor to Dubai’s Ruler, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, also took the time to announce $1bn e-commerce venture Noon.com in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and could be making more big moves in 2017 with a messaging app rival to WhatsApp said to be in the works. Chairman, Emaar Origin:UAE Residence:UAE Sector:Real Estate