LUBNA OLAYAN
One of the most powerful women in the Arab world. Ran the Olayan Financing Company and became the first woman on a Saudi public company board.
Lubna Olayan became one of the most powerful businesspeople in Saudi Arabia while the country still required women to have a male guardian. She ran the Olayan Group's Saudi operations, overseeing investments in Coca-Cola bottling, banking, construction, and food manufacturing. In 2004, she gave a speech at the Jeddah Economic Forum calling for Saudi women to be allowed to work. The audience gasped. Twenty years later, she's on the boards of multiple global companies and Saudi women are driving to work. Timing is everything. So is courage.
Net Worth
$1.5 billion
Nationality
Saudi
Time Horizon
Generational
Risk Appetite
4 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Lubna Olayan was born in 1955 in Saudi Arabia. Her father Suliman Olayan was a legendary Saudi businessman who built the Olayan Group from a trucking company into a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate.
She studied at Cornell University, then worked at JP Morgan in New York before returning to Saudi Arabia to join the family business in the early 1980s. She became CEO of Olayan Financing Company, the Saudi Arabian arm of the Olayan Group.
Under her leadership, the OFC portfolio grew enormously. She managed investments across banking (Saudi British Bank), real estate, manufacturing, food and beverage (Coca-Cola bottling), healthcare, and technology.
The company employs over 40,000 people in Saudi Arabia.
In 2004, she made headlines by giving a speech at the Jeddah Economic Forum calling for Saudi economic reforms and greater participation of women in the workforce. It was one of the first public calls for women's economic rights from a Saudi business leader.
In 2019, she became the first woman to chair a Saudi listed bank, Saudi British Bank (SABB). She also serves on the boards of Allianz and Schlumberger, making her one of the most globally connected Saudi business leaders.
She stepped down as CEO of OFC in 2019 after 33 years. She now chairs the board and remains deeply involved in Saudi Arabia's economic transformation under Vision 2030.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Olayan Financing Company manages billions across Saudi Arabia in banking, construction, real estate, food manufacturing, and healthcare. Major holdings include stakes in Saudi British Bank, Coca-Cola bottling operations, and numerous joint ventures.
The broader Olayan Group, based in Athens, manages the family's global investments across the US, Europe, and Asia. International holdings include significant stakes in public companies and private equity investments.
She serves on the boards of Allianz, Schlumberger (now SLB), and several other global companies.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Long-term, diversified, relationship-driven. The Olayan approach is to build deep partnerships with global brands and bring them into Saudi Arabia.
They don't just invest capital. They provide the local expertise, regulatory knowledge, and connections that foreign companies need to operate in the Kingdom.
The portfolio is deliberately broad. Banking, manufacturing, food, healthcare, real estate.
This diversification reflects both conservative risk management and the Olayan Group's philosophy of building an economy, not just a portfolio.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Conservative overall, with strategic bets on Saudi Arabia's transformation. The core portfolio is diversified and focused on stable, cash-generating businesses.
But operating in Saudi Arabia itself carries political and regulatory risk that most Western investors won't touch.
Money Habits
Olayan maintains a relatively private lifestyle despite her enormous influence. She splits time between Riyadh, London, and the family's various global offices.
She is deeply involved in philanthropy, particularly women's education and healthcare in Saudi Arabia. The Olayan family has donated tens of millions to universities, hospitals, and cultural institutions.
Her public appearances are selective but impactful. When she speaks, people listen.
Her Jeddah Economic Forum speech in 2004 is still cited as a turning point in the debate about women's roles in Saudi business.
BIGGEST WIN
Positioning the Olayan Group to benefit from Saudi Arabia's transformation. Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to diversify the Saudi economy, aligns perfectly with what the Olayan Group has been building for decades.
As Saudi Arabia opens to foreign investment, entertainment, tourism, and women's participation, the Olayan Group's diversified portfolio is perfectly positioned.
The SABB chairmanship was a personal milestone. Becoming the first woman to chair a Saudi bank was not just a symbolic achievement.
It was a signal that Saudi Arabia's business establishment was ready for change.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
The Olayan Group's conservative approach meant missing some of the biggest growth opportunities in the Middle East. While sovereign wealth funds were investing in Silicon Valley and emerging tech, the Olayan portfolio remained focused on traditional industries.
Some critics argue the group was slow to embrace technology and digital transformation, though this is changing under the broader Vision 2030 framework.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Build relationships that last generations. The Olayan Group's partnerships with companies like Coca-Cola, Colgate, and major banks have lasted decades.
These relationships are built on trust, local expertise, and mutual benefit.
Invest in what the economy needs, not what's trendy. When Saudi Arabia needed banks, the Olayans invested in banking.
When it needed manufacturing, they built factories. When it needed infrastructure, they built that too.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Lubna's father Suliman Olayan was one of the most respected businessmen in Saudi history. He built the group from scratch, starting with a trucking company that served ARAMCO in the 1940s.
The Olayan family is one of the wealthiest non-royal families in Saudi Arabia. Lubna has siblings who are also involved in various family business activities.
The family maintains homes in Saudi Arabia, London, and other global cities.
Her trailblazing role for women in Saudi business has made her a role model across the Arab world.
EDUCATION
Olayan graduated from Cornell University with a degree in agriculture, then shifted to finance and business. Her Cornell education and JP Morgan training gave her a Western business framework that she applied to the Saudi market.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
Olayan has not written a book
She rarely gives interviews but her Jeddah Economic Forum speeches are widely cited
Saudi, Inc. by Ellen Wald covers the Saudi business ecosystem the Olayan Group operates in
It provides essential context for understanding how Saudi business families built their empires alongside ARAMCO
QUOTES (5)
Women are half the population. An economy that ignores half its talent is an economy working at half capacity.
Relationships are the most valuable asset in business. Everything else depreciates.
My father built this company by being useful to the country. That is still the best investment thesis.
Reform is not a gift from the top. It happens when enough people at the bottom make it inevitable.
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