Dubai 100: Meet the 100 people you need to know in the emirate

Arabian Business reveals the most powerful 100 people in Dubai

Dubai is an international, cosmopolitan, and remarkably successful city, home to some of the world’s greatest thought leaders, thinkers, and business people.

It is no surprise, therefore, that ranking just 100 people in Dubai is a difficult task. While it’s important to state that no singular list could capture in one snapshot the entirety of Dubai’s most powerful leaders, this list has sought to mark the most inspirational and influential from among the emirate’s elite.

Compiled by the editorial board of Arabian Business, this list represents a power ranking of those 100 people at the very top of Dubai.

The list includes some expected, and unexpected, names, and is as diversified as Dubai’s very own business and lifestyle ecosystem.

Here are the 100 people you need to know in Dubai:

Name: Saygin Yalcin
Designation: Founder and CEO
Company: SellAnyCar.com & Carnab.com
Industry: Entrepreneurship

A serial tech entrepreneur behind the largest used car portal in the GCC, during a visit to Dubai, Yalcin observed a gap in the UAE’s e-commerce space. This prompted his move to Dubai at age 24, and in 2009, he launched Sukar.com, an online fashion store later acquired by Souq.com and then by Amazon.

The idea for his business came while he tried to sell his car on the classifieds which involved a time-consuming process. After diligent market research, Yalcin launched his portal SellAnyCar.com which offered to purchase any seller’s car for a fair price in under 30 minutes. His team next developed a digital marketplace that hosts over 25,000 companies for bidding on cars bought by SellAnyCar.com.

His success was followed by the launch of Carnab.com, another platform which sells second-hand cars to consumers online. In Dubai, Yalcin is a keen investor in new companies.

Source: Arabian Business

About the Author

SayginYalcin Saygin is the Founder & CEO of the Middle East's (ME) first & largest car buying service, SellAnyCar.com and Founder of the first & largest online private shopping club in the ME, Sukar.com, which has been acquired by Souq.com, making him Partner at the Souq.com and Jabbar Internet Group, becoming the largest ecommerce company in the Arab world, with 3000+ employees. In its largest acquisition outside the US to date, Amazon.com has acquired Souq.com Group. He has been selected as a UBS Industry Leader, a network of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals. He was also Advisory Board Member & Academic Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at the Canadian University of Dubai. He was referred to as "the region's online business guru" by the National newspaper in the UAE, while Arabian Business named him as "one of the region's finest young entrepreneurs and a major part of the entrepreneurial scene in recent years". Fortune magazine (mag) named him in the 40 under 40 list, as one of the most influential young people in business, Entrepreneur mag ME awarded SellAnyCar.com, with Saygin at its helm, as the "Fastest Growing Company in the ME", while the National newspaper sees it among a handful of tech companies to "have the potential to break the $1bn barrier". In a cover story, Entrepreneur mag ME titled him as "undoubtedly one of the youngest & most successful internet entrepreneurs in the ME”, awarded SellAnyCar.com as "Technology Innovator of the Year”, while Khaleej Times awarded him as the Technology Leader. Gulf Business selected him as 1 of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs in ME. In a cover story, Arabian Business counts him as 1 of the most successful entrepreneurs to call Dubai home. During the World Government Summit, HH Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed, Minister of Interior of the UAE, presented Saygin as an inspiring story for the country, in the presence of world leaders, incl. HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.