The UAE has become a global business destination, attracting ambitious entrepreneurs who have transformed ideas into influential companies across real estate, retail, technology, healthcare, beauty and industrial trade. Behind these success stories are business owners who recognised emerging opportunities, navigated competitive markets and built enterprises with regional and international reach. From established family businesses to modern consumer brands, these ten entrepreneurs represent the diverse talent, ambition and innovation shaping the UAE’s business landscape.
1. PNC Menon
Founder of Sobha Group | Real estate and construction
PNC Menon’s entrepreneurial journey began with an interior decoration business in Oman in 1976. His focus on craftsmanship and quality helped him develop projects across the Middle East before establishing Sobha Developers in India in 1995 and expanding the Sobha brand into Dubai. His career reflects the importance of technical expertise, disciplined execution and long-term thinking in property development.
2. M.A. Yusuff Ali
Chairman of Lulu Group International | Retail
M.A. Yusuff Ali built Lulu Group into a major retail enterprise serving customers across the Gulf and international markets. The group’s growth demonstrates the scale and complexity of operating hypermarkets across diverse communities, where supply chains, product selection and customer experience are central to success. His business journey highlights how retail can become a significant part of the UAE’s commercial landscape.
3. Sunny Varkey
Founder of GEMS Education | Education
Sunny Varkey expanded an education legacy established by his parents in Dubai into GEMS Education, an international network of schools. His work demonstrates how a business can grow around a fundamental community need while maintaining a focus on learning. Through the Varkey Foundation, he has also supported education-related initiatives, connecting entrepreneurship with broader social goals.
4. Firoz Merchant
Founder of Pure Gold Jewellers | Jewellery retail
Firoz Merchant established the first Pure Gold Jewellers store in 1989, turning his experience in the bullion trade into a retail brand. The business expanded its network and developed a presence in the Gulf jewellery market. His journey highlights the importance of trust, customer relationships and reputation in a sector where purchases often carry both financial and emotional value.
5. Dr Shamsheer Vayalil
Founder and chairman of VPS Health; chairman and CEO of Burjeel Holdings | Healthcare
Dr Shamsheer Vayalil moved from medicine into entrepreneurship when he established his first hospital in Abu Dhabi in 2007. He developed the business into a wider healthcare platform spanning hospitals and specialist services, alongside other healthcare ventures. His career illustrates the challenge of scaling medical services while maintaining patient care, clinical standards and public trust.
6. Dr Raja Al Gurg
Chairperson and managing director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group | Diversified business
Dr Raja Al Gurg stepped into the family business and established herself as a prominent figure in the UAE’s corporate landscape. Leading Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, she has helped oversee a diversified enterprise spanning trading, manufacturing, retail, franchises and real estate. She is also known for supporting women entrepreneurs through the Dubai Business Women Council. Her career combines business leadership with efforts to widen opportunities for women in the region.
7. Huda Kattan
Founder of Huda Beauty | Beauty and cosmetics
Huda Kattan began as a beauty blogger and makeup artist before transforming her knowledge of cosmetics into a global beauty brand. Launched in 2013 with false eyelashes, Huda Beauty grew from Dubai into international retail markets, including Sephora. Kattan’s journey reflects the growing influence of digital communities in modern entrepreneurship, where personal expertise and audience trust can help turn a niche idea into a widely recognised consumer brand.
8. Mona Ataya
Founder and CEO of Mumzworld | E-commerce
Mona Ataya identified an underserved need among parents searching for reliable products for mothers, babies and children. She founded Mumzworld in 2011, building a specialised e-commerce platform around that demand. The business illustrates how entrepreneurs can use digital retail to address a clearly defined customer problem, bringing product discovery and convenience together. Ataya’s work has helped establish her as a notable figure in the region’s e-commerce sector.
9. Tony Jashanmal
Group president of Jashanmal Group | Retail and distribution
Jashanmal’s business story stretches back more than a century, beginning with a store opened by Rao Sahib Jashanmal in Basra in 1919. The company later expanded across the Gulf, entering Dubai in 1956. As group president, Tony Jashanmal represents a new chapter in a business built on retail, wholesale and international brand distribution. Its continued evolution highlights the challenge of modernising a longstanding enterprise while preserving customer relationships and commercial heritage.
10. Yogesh Mehta
Founder and chairman of Petrochem Middle East | Industrial chemicals
Not every influential entrepreneur builds a consumer-facing brand. Yogesh Mehta established Petrochem Middle East in 1995, developing a business focused on chemical distribution and international trade. Operating in an industrial sector requires strong supplier relationships, technical knowledge and an understanding of complex global markets. Petrochem’s development from a trading start-up into an international enterprise illustrates the role of specialist businesses in supporting manufacturing and industrial supply chains.
Conclusion
The UAE’s business landscape has been shaped by entrepreneurs working across industries, generations and national backgrounds. From PNC Menon’s property ventures to Huda Kattan’s beauty brand and Yogesh Mehta’s industrial enterprise, these ten profiles demonstrate the many ways businesses can grow from a clear market opportunity.
Their stories also show that building a lasting company involves more than expansion. It requires understanding customers, developing reliable operations and adapting to changing markets. Together, these business figures reflect the diversity of enterprise that continues to shape the UAE’s economy.
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