Gulf business dynasties must learn to adapt (Re-posted from comments)

Family history is an issue of extreme value in the Saudi Arabian culture. A family’s name carries along with it a reputation that is of significant value in terms of both social and business relations within the Kingdom. It is therefore imperative that one distinguishes between the two Algosaibi families; both Saudi families with impressive business backgrounds.

This article is amongst many in which the distinct histories of the two separate Algosaibis are merged, thereby confusing the facts and creating a portrayal that is not only misleading, but false.

While both families sharing the name Algosaibi may have originated from Gassab (hence the common surname referring in Arabic to this village); they are not closely related and neither are the histories of their ancestors.

The Algosaibi family who is renown for the fame and fortune they created in the early 1900’s is that led by Abdulaziz, Abdallah, Abdulrahman, Hassan, and Saad Algosaibi, commonly referred to as “the five brothers”. Originating in Gassab, members of this family moved to Huraymlah, and then settled between the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain where they established a business empire based largely on pearling, international trading, and a large real-estate ownership. The sons of Hassan and Ibrahim Algosaibi moved beyond the business world to the political realm forging strong ties with the late king Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, the founder of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; thereby becoming his official representatives in the Kingdom of Bahrain and accompanying him frequently as official delegates on international business affairs. Descendants of the five Algosaibi brothers currently reside in Riyadh, the Eastern Province, and Bahrain; and include two current Saudi government ministers: Ghazi bin Abdulrahman Algosaibi, and Khalid bin Mohammad Algosaibi. The original conglomerate owned and run by the five brothers split in the 1940’s; their descendents operate today several family businesses including amongst others Khalifa Abdulrahman Algosaibi Holding Company, and Abdulrahman Algosaibi GTB.

The Algosaibi family currently dominating media outlets as a result of their complex entanglement in legal battles regarding their immense financial debt and convoluted relationship with Maan Alsanea, founder of Saad Group, is not the Algosaibi family mentioned above. While the troubled Algosaibi family may have also originated in Gassab, they left it for Zubair and then eventually settled in the Eastern Province where, led by Hamad Ahmad Algosaibi, they established a money exchange in the 1940’s. Descendents of Hamad Ahmad Algosaibi currently reside in the city of Khobar in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom where they operate under the name of Ahmed Hamad Algosaibi and Bros.

Apart from the common surname and possibly shared geographical roots, there exists only a very distant relationship between the two Algosaibi families. Distinguishing between the two families and their separate histories is therefore crucial.

* Further details regarding the two Algosaibi families can be found in Michael Field’s “The Merchants: The Big Business Families of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States”.

Original lin here: http://rupertbumfrey.blogspot.com/2009/06/gulf-business-dynasties-must-learn-to.html