Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Barwani (born October 30, 1951)[1] is an Omani billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman of MB Holding Group of companies, which operate in oil and gas exploration and production, oilfield services, engineering and mining.

Mohammed Al Barwani
Born
Mohammed Bin Ali Bin Mohammed Al Barwani

(1951-10-30) October 30, 1951 (age 72)
NationalityOmani
Alma materMiami University
Heriot-Watt University
Known forfounder, owner and chairman, MB Holding
owner, Oceanco
SpouseSharifa al Harthy
Children5

Early life edit

Mohammed Al Barwani was born in Oman.[2] In 1975 he received a bachelor's degree in Science from Miami University, Ohio, US, and a "Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981".[3] In 1980, he was awarded a master degree and in 2010 received an honorary doctorate in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK,[1] yet styles himself as "Dr. Mohammed Al Barwani".[4]

Career edit

Barwani started his career in the oil industry as a reservoir engineer for Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), a joint venture of Shell and the Government of Oman, where he worked from 1976 to 1986.[5]

Barwani founded MB Holding in 1982 to provide oilfield services. MB expanded into oil and gas exploration and production, and then engineering services[2] and subsequently founded Mawarid Mining in 1987 and Petrogas in 1999.[6] In 1997 he acquired KC Drilling in Hungary, in 2000, Erdol-Edgas Workover in Germany, and in 2004 United Engineering Services, in Oman. He also acquired Hyspec in the United Kingdom, in 2012.[7]

Barwani owns the Dutch yacht builder Oceanco.[2][8] He first visited the company in 2009,[9] and acquired it from Greek businessman Theodore Angelopoulos in 2010.[10] In 2015, Barwani bought the Turkish shipyard Turquoise Yachts.[11][12] He runs Musstir, a property developer with "stakes in several hotels in Oman".[2]

Barwani is a non-executive director of a number of publicly traded and joint stock companies, Al Madina Insurance co. SAOG, Al Madina Investments SAOG (Muscat Stock Market), Nautilus Minerals.[13] He was formerly a non-executive director of Oman Air, Shell Oman Marketing Company, Taageer Leasing Company, Oman, and National Bank of Oman.[14] He is a member of the International SeaKeepers Society.[9]

Barwani was included in the book Those Who Inspire Oman, published in November 2012 by the publishing house Those Who Inspire Ltd.[15]

As of May 2016, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$1.01 billion.[2]

In 2020, Barwani was appointed as chairman of Oman Air the national airline of Oman.[16]

Personal life edit

He is married to Sharifa al Harthy, who has always been involved in the company, and she is deputy chairman of MB Holding.[17] They live in Muscat, and have five children, all of whom work for MB Holding.[2]

Barwani owns several boats, with the 32 metre yacht Sharifa being the largest.[18]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Mohammed Al Barwani - Creating Emerging Markets - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Mohammed Al Barwani". Forbes. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Executive Profile Mohamed Bin Ali Bin Mohamed Al Barwani". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Dr. Mohammed Al Barwani". mbholdingco. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  5. ^ "MB Holding Company LLC". www.mbholdingco.com. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
  6. ^ University, Heriot-Watt. "Oil & Gas Guru visits Dubai Campus". www.hw.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  7. ^ "Strength In Diversity". The Business Year. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  8. ^ Zaltzman, Julia (2017-07-22). "Full Steam Ahead for Oceanco". Robb Report. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  9. ^ a b The Interview
  10. ^ "Meet Oman's mysterious oil billionaire builiding[sic] the world's most luxurious yachts". Al Bawaba. 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  11. ^ "Growing on instinct: Mohammed Al Barwani". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  12. ^ "Insight: More than just business with Dr. Al Barwani". Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  13. ^ "One in, one out at Nautilus Minerals". 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  14. ^ "The World's 50 Richest Arabs 2016 - ArabianBusiness.com". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  15. ^ "Dr. Mohammed Barwani". thosewhoinspire.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  16. ^ "MB Holding founder Dr. Mohammed Al Barwani is the new chairman of Oman Air". The Arabian Stories News. 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  17. ^ "The Pioneer". Business Today. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Insight: More than just business with Dr. Al Barwani". Retrieved 2018-10-18.