The Sawiris Family (No. 4)

	Net Worth	11.20 bn
	Age	Naquib : 59 Samih : 56 Nassef : 52
	Source of Wealth	Technology, construction, telecommunications & tourism

 

The Sawiris family is a Egyptian Coptic family that owns the Orascom conglomerate, spanning telecommunications, construction, tourism, industries and technology.^[1][2] In 2008, Forbes estimated the family's net worth at $36 billion.

Onsi Sawiris (born in 1930), now retired, is the patriarch of the family. Various companies in the group are run by Onsi Sawiris' three sons as above.

Onsi Sawiris founded Orascom in 1950 that has grown into a conglomerate of companies including Orascom Telecom Holding (in Arabic أوراسكوم للإتصالات), and Orascom Technology Solutions (OTS) (in Arabic أوراسكوم للتكنولوجيا), both run by Naguib Sawiris, Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) (in Arabic أوراسكوم للإنشاء والصناعة) run by Nassef Sawiris, Orascom Hotels and Development (OHD) (in Arabic أوراسكوم للفنادق والتنمية) run by Samih Sawiris.

Naguib Sawiris is investor in Mobinil, Egypt's main mobile phone company, and has expanded into Algeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even North Korea. He has also invested through affiliates in Italy (through Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA and Canada (through Globalive Wireless and its Wind Mobile). Naguib Sawiris is also investor in a highly influential Egyptian independent newspaper Almasry Alyoum and the owner of TV interests, most notably in OTV (Orascom Television).

The Sawiris family also actively engages in charity and economic and social development through Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (in Arabic مؤسسة ساويرس للتنمية الإجتماعية) that includes Sawiris Foundation Awards for Egyptian Literature (in Arabic جائزة مؤسسة ساويرس للأدب المصري)

The aggregated wealth of the Sawiris family - a scion of Egypt's most successful Coptic business house - has surged over the years since Onsi, the patriarch of the family handed over the reins to Naguib his eldest son and two brothers Nassef and Samih. They took over and expanded the Orascom conglomerate into a telecommunications, construction, real estate, hotel and development business. Naguib, 58, launched the first mobile operator in Egypt, Mobinil in 1998, was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding (manages 11 GSM operators around the world ) and launched Koryolink, the first mobile operator in North Korea in 2008. Naguib turned to politics as a wave of protests swept Egypt overthrowing longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011.