Ahmed Galal Ismail

As chief executive of Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim, the holding company operating retail and other real estate developments across the Middle East, Ahmed Galal Ismail is responsible for an asset portfolio worth over $18 billion including Mall of the Emirates in Dubai and Mall of Egypt in Cairo. Within a year of his appointment, the company reported a 12 percent rise in annual net profits to 2.7 billion dirhams ($740 million). 

In addition to overseeing the group’s luxury malls in the UAE and Egypt, Ismail leads its mass market shopping centre network, which provides a distribution channel for global and local brands in the region. The firm’s other retail holdings include the chains Matajer and My City Centre, which has UAE locations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Ras Al-Khaimah. Retail outlets are also present at some of the group’s mixed-use developments in cities across Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and Lebanon. As of 2024, The Lifestyle subsidiary of the firm served as regional joint-venture partner for brands like Lululemon and Abercrombie & Fitch, and operated That Concept Store, a multi-brand retailer in Dubai that sold brands ranging from Bottega Veneta and Maison Margiela to Khaite and Farm Rio.

Prior to assuming the top job at Majid Al Futtaim in January 2023, Ismail, who joined the firm in 2007 as VP of strategy, helmed its properties division. Before that, the Egyptian executive managed seven verticals including leisure, cinemas and consumer finance.  Ismail cut his teeth at Procter and Gamble’s Egypt and Germany offices before joining management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. While sitting on Majid Al Futtaim’s board of directors, he serves on boards for the Arab Investment Bank, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s CEO Alliance for Climate Change. Ismail holds an MBA from London Business School and a BSc in computer science from The American University in Cairo, where he is also on the board of trustees.