Dubai: Telegram founder Pavel Durov topped the Forbes list of UAE’s richest billionaires with a net worth of $17.2 billion. Eleven UAE residents found their names on the list. These 11 billionaires control a total of $43.4 billion of wealth. Nearly 40 percent of it is held by the Telegram founder.
In the global Forbes’ richest list, he grabbed the 112th position. He also became the first UAE resident to bag a position in the list of top 200 billionaires in the world after his wealth increased from $3.4 billion in 2020 to $17.2 billion in 2021.
The wealth of Telegram founder increased exponentially recently after the app became popular. The popularity of the app increased after Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced a new privacy policy recently.
Other UAE residents who found their names in the list of richest persons in the UAE are MA Yusuffali, Majid Al Futtaim & family, Abdullah Al Ghurair & family, Micky Jagtiani, Ravi Pillai, Hussain Sajwani, Abdullah Al Futtaim, Thaksin Shinawatra, Saket Burman and Sunny Varkey.
Below is the list of richest persons in the UAE as per Forbes
| Name | Wealth | Global rank | Wealth source | Citizenship |
| Pavel Durov | $17.2 billion | 112 | Telegram | Russia |
| MA Yusuffali | $4.8 billion | 589 | LuLu Group | India |
| Majid Al Futtaim & family | $3.6 billion | 831 | Real estate, retail, etc. | UAE |
| Abdullah Al Ghurair & family | $2.8 billion | 1111 | Banking, real estate etc. | UAE |
| Micky Jagtiani | $2.8 billion | 1111 | Landmark Group | India |
| Ravi Pillai | $2.5 billion | 1249 | Construction | India |
| Hussain Sajwani | $2.4 billion | 1299 | Real estate | UAE |
| Abdullah Al Futtaim & family | $2.2 billion | 1444 | Automobiles, investments | UAE |
| Thaksin Shinawatra | $2.0 billion | 1580 | Investments | Thailand |
| Saket Burman | $1.8 billion | 1833 | Consumer goods | UK |
| Sunny Varkey | $1.4 billion | 2141 | Education | India |
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani topped the Forbes list of India’s 10 richest billionaires with a net worth of $84.5 billion. Second, on the list is Adani Group chief Gautam Adani who has a net worth of $50.5 billion. The third richest Indian is HCL founder Shiv Nadar with a net worth of $23.5 billion.