Khaberni - At the age of twenty-six, the young Emirati Abbas Sajwani, founder and chairman of AHS Properties, made his first appearance on the Forbes Middle East list for 2026 as one of the richest Arabs in the world, ranking 24th with a net worth of $1.9 billion.
Abbas, the son of billionaire Hussain Sajwani, is not only the youngest real estate billionaire on this year’s list but is also the first billionaire in the sector under the age of 30 worldwide. Additionally, he is the youngest Emirati and Arab ever to appear in the global billionaire rankings, and he is the sixth wealthiest person in this sector, according to Forbes.
A billionaire of the new generation
In 2017, he founded the AHS Group, which comprises three main sectors: projects, investments, and real estate. In 2021, the group expanded to include ultra-luxury real estate with the launch of AHS, where it bought and renovated villas in prime locations in Dubai such as Emirates Hills and Palm Jumeirah.
In 2022, the billionaire sold three villas in Palm Jumeirah for $75 million and unveiled a new luxury villa worth $45 million, according to the company. He also bought lands along the Dubai Water Canal to build luxury residential towers, which now form the largest part of his business.
Last year, he acquired the long-abandoned Big Ben tower in Dubai for $120 million, renamed it AHS Tower, and transformed it into a luxury office tower.
In February of the last year, AHS Real Estate sold all the units in its 69-story tower, generating revenues exceeding $700 million during the development phase.
Today, the AHS Group owns assets exceeding $3.3 billion and employs over 2,000 people. Before entering the real estate field, he owned an internet café and a private car company, and made a small fortune trading shares of the Simon Property Group between 2020 and 2021.
In 2024, Sajwani was listed in Forbes Middle East's top 30 under thirty list.
The family and legacy
Now, with a growing portfolio of luxury properties and a status among the world’s wealthy, this 26-year-old represents a new generation of Gulf entrepreneurs shaping the real estate market in the region, which includes Saudi Ibrahim Al Muhaidib.
The United Arab Emirates ranks second among the other six countries: Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Algeria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, listed in this year's richest Arabs in the world list, with seven billionaires whose total wealth amounts to $35.4 billion, including his father, the founder and chairman of DAMAC Properties, a luxury real estate development company based in Dubai.
Hussain is the wealthiest person in the United Arab Emirates on the list, with a net worth estimated at $15.3 billion, up from $10.2 billion last year, making him the second richest Arab in the world and the richest person in the real estate sector.
