5. Ravi Pillai

Founder and Chairman

COMPANY: RP Group of Companies

SECTOR: Real Estate and Construction

Since establishing his company in 1978, Pillai has built his business empire into a $7.8 billion construction heavyweight over 42 years. The RP Group today has 20 companies under its umbrella spanning real estate, retail, hospitality, healthcare and education. Its completed projects are worth over $25 billion combined, including Saudi Aramco’s JAZAN Refinery Project, Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s Clean Fuel Refinery Project, and the Sadara Project. In 2019, Pillai said the company plans to invest $1.4 billion into hospitality to grow its Raviz brand. With over 100,000 employees, the group is one of the biggest employers in the Gulf.