Top 100 Arabs 2025

70. Badr Jafar

CEO, Crescent Enterprises

Origin: UAE

Residence: UAE

Sector: Diversified

2024 Rank: 68

Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and UAE Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy, was awarded the London Business School (LBS) Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his multifaceted contributions to global business, philanthropy, and social entrepreneurship in July 2024.

He received the award during the LBS annual congregation ceremony held in London to honour 1,600 graduates.

Previous honourees include notable figures such as Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft; Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P., and Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations.

In 2010, Badr Jafar founded the Pearl Initiative – a non-profit, private sector-led organisation committed to the promotion of a corporate culture of transparency and accountability across the Middle East, functioning in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah

Mishal Hamed Kanoo