THE MIDDLE EAST’S
1. Samih Toukan; Hussam Khoury
Company: Jabbar Internet Group
Designation: Cofounder & Chairman; Cofounder & President
Nationality: Jordanians
Headquarters: U.A.E.
Established: 2009
Toukan and Khoury cofounded the Arabic online portal website Maktoob.com in 2000 and cofounded Souq.com alongside Ronaldo Mouchawar in 2005. In 2009, the duo founded the Jabbar Internet Group, which worked on the acquisitions of Maktoob.com by Yahoo.com for $164 million in 2009, Souq.com by Amazon for $580 million in 2017, and InstaShop by Delivery Hero for $360 million in 2020. Today, Jabbar has investments in startups across Jordan, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Greece, Germany, the U.K., and India, including qeen.ai, Ard Group, Ziina, Lyve, Stake, GrocerApp, Foodics, and Hopscotch. In September 2024, Jabbar participated in the $22 million Series A funding round of U.A.E.-based fintech Ziina.