Forbes Ranks 3 Moroccan Families Among Arab World’s Most Powerful

Who are the "100 most powerful Arab families"? This is the question answered by Forbes Middle East magazine in its latest issue. Inside are three Moroccan families: the Benjellouns, at the head of the banking group BMCE Bank; the Bensalehs, who lead the Holmarcom conglomerate; and the Znibers, founders of Celliers de Meknès, a flagship of the Moroccan wine industry.

The establishment of this ranking goes through several stages. Forbes Middle East first listed companies owned or managed by Arab families. The magazine then collected information from financial markets, reports issued by consulting firms, as well as other primary sources, before ranking family businesses according to several criteria.

These criteria are: the size of their investments, including the value of their subsidiaries, publicly listed companies, and assets in the real estate sectors; business activity during the past year, including IPOs of subsidiaries, investments and new projects; diversification of activities in terms of sectors and geographical location. Forbes Middle East also took into account the performance of their main activities and the sectors in which they operate, the company’s history and heritage, and the number of employees.