Tony Jashanmal The Jashanmal business association with the Middle East is over a century old. In 1919, Tony Jashanmal’s grandfather established a general store in Basra, Iraq, that sold items including stationery, newspapers, books and men’s clothing. International expansion began back in 1934 when his grandfather set up shop in Kuwait’s Safaat Square, and later on in Dubai’s Al Nasr Square in 1956. Three generations in, that expansion hasn’t stopped. Jashanmal, who speaks seven languages and left a PhD mid-way to join the family business in 1971 after his father died, now serves as the current group director of an enormous retail and distribution empire. The group now has over 150 retails stores in the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, and a distribution network of over 1,000 outlets. Related Stories E-commerce paving the way for the future of retail and more Revealed: Influential Indians in the GCC: Business legends Revealed: Top 10 Indians Who Shaped The UAE You might also like Sunil John Dr. Thumbay Moideen Vidya Chhabria Mohan Valrani K. Rajaram Dr. Adnan Chilwan Sanjiv Kakkar Ram Kumar Thota Raghu Malhotra Sunil Kaushal Atif Rahman Amit Jain Rishi Kapoor Vasu Shroff Anil Pillai Bal Krishen Rohit and Sharad Bachani Raju Ramesh and Sunil Paul Ayesha Depala John Paul Joy Alukkas Geet Bhalla and Digvijay Pratap Snehal and Sunita Hadani Nisha Jagtiani Kunal Kapoor Dino Varkey Ashish Panjabi Adeeb Ahamed Yogesh Mehta Yusuff Ali M.A. Ravi Pillai Micky Jagtiani Sunny Varkey Sunil Vaswani Shamsheer Vayalil Firoz Merchant Rajen Kilachand Azad Moopen Paras Shahdadpuri Joy Alukkas Dr. Zulekha Daud Dhananjay Datar Rizwan Sajan PNC Menon Sima Ved Shaji Ul Mulk Ramesh Prabhakar L.T. Pagarani Ram Buxani Surender Kandhari Sohan Roy Shyam Bhatia