Holding On To Heritage
Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Al Faisal Holding, has been building his family legacy for 57 years since starting his first company aged 16. Today Qatar’s wealthiest businessman, with a net worth of $1.6 billion, is focused on preserving Arabian culture through his growing museum while his children take care of business.
Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Al Faisal Holding, has been building his family legacy for 57 years since starting his first company aged 16. Today Qatar’s wealthiest businessman, with a net worth of $1.6 billion, is focused on preserving Arabian culture through his growing museum while his children take care of business.
On January 5, 2021, the leaders of some of the largest economies in the Middle East came together at the end of the GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia’s historical city of AlUla to sign the AlUla Declaration—an agreement between them to reconnect and strengthen a forgotten friendship. The small but significant gesture was a unified move towards normalizing the relationship between Qatar and the other Gulf countries for the first time in well over three years, after a 2017 dispute saw the small but oil-rich peninsula of Qatar cut off by Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain, and Egypt.
The blockade coupled with the recent pandemic has made Qatar a more independent economy. Still, for residents of the Middle East, the peaceful reestablishing of old ties means that communication with and access to the country can start to reopen. And for Qatar, the lifting of the border closures means it can continue full steam ahead with its plans to welcome the world to the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Doha and begin its post-pandemic recovery allied with its powerful neighbors.
For the country’s richest businessman, it is simply a fateful next step. “The previous challenges that we faced are history now,” says Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of family conglomerate Al Faisal Holding and Qatar’s wealthiest businessman, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion according to Forbes’ 2021 list of the world’s billionaires. “They are gone, and we should talk honestly without exaggerating or underestimating things. The crisis, whether it’s in our country or another, is a fate and destiny.”
The animated but quietly-spoken 73-year-old has good reason to be optimistically wanting to get on with things. Al Faisal Holding is Qatar’s largest private hotel owner, with 34 luxury hotels and approximately 6,600 rooms in its portfolio. Next year, with the pandemic and geopolitical tensions behind it, Qatar could welcome up to 1.7 million visitors during the World Cup football tournament, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization. With a population of just over 2.8 million, that’s potentially around 60% more people arriving in Qatar than currently live there. After a tough year, this would undoubtedly be a significant blessing for the travel and hospitality sector.
Al Thani’s empire spans the globe, with hotels on four continents. His portfolio includes the St Regis in Washington D.C., the St Regis Bal Harbour, W Miami, JW Marriott Istanbul Bosporus, Four Seasons at First Residence Cairo, and the M Hotel in Makkah, located six minutes away from the Haram, the holiest site in Islam. The group also owns hotels in Italy, Germany, the U.S., the U.K., Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey.
Despite this enviable hospitality catalog, Al Thani’s biggest investment is in the Aamal Company, a large conglomerate listed on the Qatar stock exchange whose main activity is manufacturing industrial products, including cement, steel, pipes, and cables. Al Thani founded the company and today owns 70% of its shares—valued at $1.1 billion as of April 2021. Al Faisal Holding also has interests in jewelry, real estate, trading, industrial ventures, and education. The group owns the Gulf English School and the Stenden University Qatar, as well as an equestrian training center and a sports academy.
But Al Thani’s main passion today lies not in business but art and culture. He is currently the owner of one of the largest private collections of historical artifacts
in the world, primarily housed at the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum, which he established in 1998. Located in the village of Al Samriya, the museum holds more than 30,000 artifacts spanning from the Jurassic Period to the early Islamic era and up to the present day, most of which Al Thani says he sourced himself.
“I have collected around 99% of the pieces in the museum,” says the billionaire. “I have a collection of rare books and an entire library of manuscripts. I also have a collection of calligraphy from all the old calligraphers.” Other important pieces include a Quran room that houses a Kiswah—the cloth that covers the Kaaba in the holy city of Makkah. Visitors can also explore a Syrian house from Damascus that was dismantled and reassembled at the museum and over 600 vintage cars.
“His enthusiasm for collecting items of historical relevance has always gone hand in hand with his vision of creating and sharing a new cultural heritage for Qatar and beyond,” says Claudio Cravero, Director of the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Museum, about Al Thani. “I am honored to be the custodian of such a unique institution.”
In 2013, Sheikh Faisal opened a new museum in the heart of West Bay, Doha’s business district. The Sheikh Faisal Oriental Carpet Museum hosts a wide range of unique carpets, including more
than 500 from Iran, Turkey, India, and Egypt dating from the 17th to the 20th century. “I have valuable and rare carpets with historical significance,” Al Thani reveals. “The masterpiece has no home country, and that’s why it is important.”
This desire to promote Middle Eastern culture led to him creating “The Majlis – Cultures in Dialogue” exhibition three years ago in collaboration with Qatar Museums, the UNESCO Doha Office, and the Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture, and Science. The showcase of the traditional Arabian social space was launched in 2018 in France, before traveling throughout Europe over the next two years, visiting Paris, Malta, Vienna, and Madrid. It may resume this year and continue to the U.S.
It is not the first time Al Thani has carried his art across the world. He recalls many times when, having bought a piece in London or Paris, he would gladly fly back to Doha in the middle of his trip to deliver it safely before continuing with his journey. It’s a typical sign of commitment from a leader that has been growing his empire since he was just a teenager.
Al Thani started his first business trading car parts in Doha in 1964, when he was just 16 years old. According to the World Bank, at the time Qatar’s population was less than 50,000. “When we first started, the market wasn’t that big, and there was a lot of competition,” remembers Al Thani. Things were tough initially, and his goal was just to make enough money to pay his employees, but his aptitude for business quickly began to pay off.
In 1966, just two years after starting his business, he opened a branch in Lebanon to provide travel and trading services in Beirut. Then in 1969, Al Thani won the exclusive dealership for Bridgestone tires in Qatar. That same year he set up Gettco Contracting, now known as Gettco Construction, which has since constructed many of his real estate projects and hotels in Qatar.
In 1971, Al Thani branched out further by founding the Ebn Sina Medical chain of pharmacies and pharmaceuticals distributor. And over the next nearly 30 years he continued to diversify, expanding into education, manufacturing, transport, and retail, as well as establishing an office in London and his museum.
A significant move came in 2001, when Al Thani took $820 million of capital and established the Aamal Company, which included several companies that were established by Al Faisal Holding, including the Bridgestone dealership, Ebn Sina Medical, and City Center Doha. Then he turned to hospitality, setting up the Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company in 2003, which is today the largest private hotel owner in Qatar. In 2013, the company bought the Maritim Hotel and the Grand Hyatt in Berlin for $210.6 million and $136.3 million respectively, followed by the Manhattan at Times Square in 2014 for $535 million. More recently Al Thani has focused on the Qatari market, signing agreements and opening hotels with Swiss-Belhotel, Hilton, and Marriott International.
The Aamal Company listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange in 2007 and began
“I have a collection of rare books and an entire library of manuscripts. I also have a collection of calligraphy from all the old calligraphers.”
expanding its industrial base. This included establishing Senyar Industries Qatar Holding, a 50:50 joint venture with El Sewedy Electric Company. Businesses under Senyar today include Doha Cables, Elsewedy Cables Qatar, and Senyar Factory for Drums. It also established the Advanced Pipes & Casts Company, a 50:50 joint venture with the Lokma Group, and it owns 75% of Aamal Maritime Transportation Services. Other units include Aamal Readymix, Aamal Cement industries, and Gulf Rocks.
Today the sprawling conglomerate is familyrun, with six of Al Thani’s 10 children holding board positions for Al Faisal Holding and maintaining operational roles. Their input allows the chairman to focus on the museum and other passion projects. However, he recognizes that many family businesses have trouble in succession planning when it comes to dividing responsibilities, and so he’s devised a plan to protect his legacy.
To safeguard Al Faisal Holding, the chairman has ensured that it is overseen by two independent councils: one family council that includes family members only; and one management council that includes professional members of the organization. While the family council gives strategic guidance, the management council—on which sit three family members—takes care of the management of the business. All his children are shareholders, and if they choose to sell their shares they must sell them within the company according to rules laid out in a family board charter.
Al Thani also ensured all his children completed their education in Qatar to strengthen their bonds with their country. It’s his solution to an age-old issue. “The problem is when the inheritors break up the family or the family business because of disagreements,” he muses. But he’s banking on his legacy being one that lasts.
His children seem determined to not let him down. “It is an honor and a pleasure for me and all our family to share in my father’s career,” says Mohamed bin Faisal, Vice Chairman of Al Faisal Holding. “His guiding values have always been transparency, integrity, distinction, and the motivation to always ensure the best for our organization and society through all aspects of our work.”
“The best thing to invest in is your children,” advises Al Thani. “Teach them and make them knowledgeable.”