KHALED BIN HUSSAIN BIYARI

CEO, SAUDI TELECOM COMPANY ORIGIN KSA RESIDENCE KSA SECTOR TELECOMS

He may be CEO of the Gulf ’s largest operator by market value, but a difficult year for the telecommunications industry gave Biyari plenty of decisions to make in 2016. In May, for example, the chief executive said STC was considering a sale of its mobile transmitter towers in a bid to diversify revenue and boost efficiency. Regardless of the troubled climate, the company invested heavily in the cloud and posted decent profits across the year, despite them being down on the previous 12 months. Biyari himself remains a positive force, stating his belief in November that STC can be one of the major players in the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s economy.