Mikati speaks during the reopening ceremony of the National Library in Beirut. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s wealth, and that of his brother Taha, have increased by $ 700 million each in the past year according to Forbes Magazine, who published its list of the richest Arabs today.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the report, Najib and Taha Mikati saw the largest gains in net worth of any in the Arab world last year, with each man now worth $3.2 billion.
• The report also includes six Lebanese billionaires who have a total net worth of $12.6 billion. They include the two Mikati brothers, and the three brothers of former billionaire and Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri—Bahaa, Ayman, and Fahed Hariri.
• According to Forbes, Najib Mikati is the co-founder, with his billionaire brother Taha, of Beirut-based investment firm M1 Group. Its investments include stakes in South African telecom firm MTN, fashion retailer Pepe Jeans and real estate in New York, London and Monaco. The brothers founded Investcom in 1982, selling satellite phones at the height of Lebanon's civil war. They later expanded into Africa, where they built cellphone towers in Ghana, Liberia and Benin, among other countries. In 2005, Investcom went public on the London Stock Exchange, and in 2009, South Africa's MTN bought the Mikatis' stake for $3.6 billion.
• Najib Mikati is serving his third term as Prime Minister as Lebanon struggles from an unprecedented economic crisis. He is a member of the Lebanese Parliament representing Tripoli as an MP for the Azm Movement, which currently holds three seats. His political career was launched in 1998 when he was appointed public works and transport minister in Rafik Hariri’s cabinet, a post that he held until 2004.