Biography

Hussain Sajwani is the founder and chairman of Damac Properties and of its parent, the Damac Group. The parent Damac Group was originally founded in 1982 as a catering and logistics business, and Damac Properties was founded in 2002. He is Emirati and was born in 1953; his exact birth date and birthplace are not given. He won a government scholarship and began medical studies at a college in Baghdad, left after the first year and studied industrial engineering at the University of Washington. He started work in 1981 in the finance department of Abu Dhabi Gas Industries and around 1983 began a catering business serving the US military and Bechtel, now Global Logistics Services. He bought land and property in Dubai in the 1990s and founded Damac Properties in 2002. In 2011 an Egyptian court sentenced him in absentia to five years over a land purchase; in May 2013 the dispute was settled, the land returned to the state, Damac withdrew its arbitration claim and prosecutors suspended the sentence, according to Wikipedia. His investment firm bought Roberto Cavalli in 2019 and De Grisogono in 2022. He founded the data-centre business Edgnex in 2021, renamed Damac Digital in 2025, and on 7 January 2025 announced a US$20 billion investment in US data centres. Forbes Middle East’s list The World’s Richest Arabs 2026, dated April 2026, puts his net worth at US$15.3 billion and ranks him second. Earlier Forbes figures were US$10.2 billion in 2025 and US$5.1 billion in 2024, according to AGBI. Wikipedia cites an earlier Forbes page for the figure that was retrieved in August 2024, so the data in that older source is from August 2024. Net worth figures are estimates, and this profile stays Not Verified. He is married with four children.

Career

  • 1981 · Finance department · Abu Dhabi Gas Industries
  • 1983 · Started catering business for US military and Bechtel (about) · Global Logistics Services
  • 2002 · Founder · Damac Properties
  • 2019 · Bought Roberto Cavalli · Damac Group
  • 2021 · Founded Edgnex, renamed Damac Digital in 2025 · Damac Group
  • 2022 · Bought De Grisogono; took Damac Properties private · Damac Group

Education

  • Industrial engineering, University of Washington
  • Medical studies, college in Baghdad (left after one year)

Achievements

  • Ranked 61st in Gulf Business's Top 100 Global Arabs 2026
  • Built Damac into Dubai's largest private developer by sales in 2025
  • Damac Islands launch earned a Guinness World Record for highest revenue from a real estate launch in 24 hours

Companies Founded

Related Articles