Forbes Middle East Reveals The Middle East's Top 100 CEOs 2025

Forbes Middle East has revealed its fifth annual list of the Top 100 CEOs in the Middle East, highlighting the leaders who are redefining the region’s power corridors with their roles not just focused on business performance but as nation builders that steer industries toward innovation, diversification, and global relevance.

To curate the ranking, Forbes Middle East took into account several metrics, including their impacts on the region, their country, and the markets they serve; their overall experience and time in their current role; the size of the company in terms of key financial metrics; achievements and performance of the CEO over the past year along with the innovations and initiatives they have implemented.

Amin H. Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, ranked first, followed by ADNOC Group’s Group CEO and Managing Director Sultan Al Jaber at the second spot. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airlines & Group, clinched the third spot, while International Holding Company (IHC)’s CEO and Managing Director, Syed Basar Shueb, and QatarEnergy’s Deputy Chairman, President & CEO, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
The 2025 ranking includes listees from 18 nationalities. Emiratis lead with 32 executives, followed by Saudis with 18 and Egyptians with 16. Together, the three groups constitute 65% of the ranking, slightly higher than last year’s composition. In terms of sectors, banking and financial services remains at the top with 24 entries, followed by diversified and energy with nine each. Among the top 10 alone, six different industries are represented.

This year, companies increased their emphasis on diversification, moving beyond oil-rich dependencies. A recurring theme in this year’s list is the urgent emphasis on artificial intelligence and sustainability, given the accelerating climate crisis. QatarEnergy has inked an agreement with Samsung C&T for the construction of the Dukhan solar power plant, while Saudi-based ACWA Power signed PPAs with the Saudi Power Procurement Company and Badeel for the development of seven large-scale renewable energy plants, worth $8.3 billion.