Business
Who’s Who
A Visionary Entrepreneur with Business in His Blood
Dr.Ghassan Al-Sulaiman By Yousra Elwi
Profile:
Who: Dr.Ghassan Al-Sulaiman What: Chairman of Ghassan AlSulaiman Holding Company Where: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Qualifications: MA in Business Administration, University of San Fransisco, 1980. PhD in Business Administration, Hull University, UK, 2004
14 DESTINATION JEDDAH
With a clear mindset and a visionary approach, Dr. Ghassan Al-Sulaiman makes distinctive footprints in a variety of industries in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. Be it retail, food and beverage, investment banking, real estate, or advertising and marketing, Dr. Al-Sulaiman has managed to establish entities that are successfully operating within their markets or are excelling as leaders with renowned names. IKEA for instance, is a retail landmark in Saudi Arabia that was launched by Dr. AlSulaiman in the early 1980’s. Securing the IKEA franchise was a coup which only hinted at the bright future in entrepreneurship for this ambitious businessman. Today, Dr. Al-Sulaiman is the chairman of numerous reputable companies that are operating powerfully in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; all exceptionally dominant brands and franchises. IKEA in furniture, Margherita and Semsom in food and beverage, Emara and Siraj Capital in real estate, Venture Capital Bank and Saudi Venture Capital in investment banking, and the list continues. All his companies carry his hallmark of his vision to capitalize upon existing business vacuums in order to create and sustain long-term business success. The key driver behind Dr. Al-Sulaiman’s investment in these diverse industries is his ‘entrepreneurship mindset’; his passion lies in “building a company from scratch rather than getting involved in an already existing one,” as he clarifies. And up until today, Dr. Al-Sulaiman refers to himself as an ‘entrepreneur who delves into novel initiatives and takes considerable