Nine Saudi Women are on Forbes’ List of the Top 100 Most Influential Businesswomen in 2024

Forbes has released its annual list of the Middle East’s 100 most prominent businesswomen for 2024. Nine Saudi women made the list.

Egyptian businesswomen led the list with 17, followed by Emirati women with 14, and Saudi and Lebanese women with nine apiece.

The banking and financial services industry has the most entries, with 26, followed by the healthcare sector with 13, and the investment and technology sectors with six apiece.

While 35 businesswomen from 15 various areas made their debuts in this year’s categorization.

An overview of the Saudi businesswomen who made it into this year’s Forbes list is provided below:

Sarah Al-Suhaimi

Company: Saudi Tadawul Group

Position: Chairman of the Board of Directors

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Banking and Financial Services

In 2017, Al-Suhaimi served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Tadawul Group, which owns the Saudi Stock Exchange (Saudi Tadawul), the Securities Clearing Centre Company (Muqassa), the Securities Depository Centre Company (Edaa), and the Wamed Company.

In September 2022, she became Chair of Lazard Financial Advisory’s Board of Directors for the Middle East and North Africa area.

She serves on the Boards of Directors for Saudi Arabian Airlines General Corporation, the Cultural Development Fund, the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market, and STC.

She has also served as CEO of AlAhli Capital and Vice-Chairman of the Capital Market Authority’s Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors.

Manar Al-Moneef

Company: NEOM

Position: Chief Investment Officer

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Real estate and construction

Al-Moneef became NEOM’s Chief Investment Officer in 2021, where she oversaw the formulation and implementation of the company’s investment strategy.

In November 2023, NEOM established its first international headquarters in London to oversee its operations in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Al-Moneef has almost two decades of expertise in the healthcare, oil and gas, and renewable energy industries. Before joining NEOM, she was President and CEO of GE Renewable Energy’s onshore wind business in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey.

Jumana Al-Rashed

Company: Saudi Research and Media Group

Position: CEO

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Media and Marketing

Al-Rashed assumed her current position in 2020.

The Saudi Research and Media Group reported revenues of $777 million in the first nine months of 2023, an 8% rise over the same time in 2022.

Al-Rashed also oversaw the relaunch of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper and two magazines, (Al-Majalla) and (Hiya), as well as the establishment of the Al-Sharq News Network, which includes the Al-Sharq News and Al-Sharq Economy platforms with Bloomberg, Al-Sharq Discovery, and Al-Sharq Documentary, as well as affiliated radio and podcasting.

In 2023, Al-Rashed spearheaded the group’s attempts to build an Arab Billboard in collaboration with Billboard International.

She also chairs the Boards of Trustees for the Red Sea Film Foundation and Eighth Publishing and Distribution Company.

Ghada Al-Jarbou

Company: First Saudi Bank

Position: Chief Operating Officer

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Banking and Financial Services

Al-Jarbou became Chief Operating Officer of First Saudi Bank in October 2020.

She has previously held many senior roles at the bank, including Senior Information Technology Programme Manager, Head of Service Delivery, Head of Retail Electronic Banking, and General Manager of Global Cash and Liquidity Management.

She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Saudi Ground Services Company.

Sheila Al-Ruwaili

Company: Wesaya International Investment

Position: CEO

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Investment

Al-Ruwaili spearheaded the foundation of Wisayah Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco that invests Giant Oil’s pension money.

She joined Aramco in 1998 and has held many positions in various sectors, such as finance, trade, investment, risk management, planning, and energy economics.

Al-Ruwaili assumed her current position in January 2019.

She also serves on the Board of Directors of Aramco Ventures and the NEOM Investment Committee.

In June 2022, Al-Ruwaili became the first woman to join the Board of Directors of the Saudi Central Bank.

Reham Al-Musa

Company: Oracle

Position: Vice President for Public Sector Affairs and Cloud Applications and Company Director in Saudi Arabia

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Headquarters: America

Sector: Technology

Al-Musa began her present role in 2022, overseeing Oracle’s operations in Saudi Arabia.

In February 2023, Oracle announced plans to construct a third public cloud region in Riyadh as part of a $1.5 billion investment to increase cloud infrastructure capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Musa is a member of the Oracle Women’s Leadership Group, a worldwide development programme aimed at engaging and empowering the company’s present and future female leaders.

Fouziyah Muhammad Aljarallah

Company: Hayat National Hospitals Group

Position: Owner and CEO of the group

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Healthcare

Since 2017, Aljarallah has served as Vice-Chairman of the Saudi Chambers’ National Committee for Private Hospitals.

She is also the CEO of Al Enmaa Medical Services Company, which owns and manages Hayat National Hospitals Group.

She also holds the position of Head of the Allergy and Immunology Department at Al-Hayat National Hospital.

Amal Dokhan

Company: 500Global

Position: General Partner, Middle East and North Africa Region

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Investment

Dokhan joined the company as a consultant for the Middle East and North Africa region, in 2020.

In June 2022, she was promoted to general partner to lead the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator, a business acceleration programme located in Riyadh that invests in firms in the Middle East and North Africa area throughout their creation and pre-establishment stages.

Dokhan has previously overseen entrepreneurial programmes and served as an angel investor in Saudi Arabia.

She was also the director of the Learning and Programme Design initiative at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

She also serves on the Cranfield University Saudi Advisory Council and the King Abdulaziz University Female Advisory Council.

Nejoud Saleh Al-Mulaik

Company: Fitch Ratings Company

Position: Director General, Saudi Arabia

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Sector: Banking and Financial Services

Al-Mulaik took over as General Manager of Fitch Ratings in Saudi Arabia in May 2022.

Before joining the company, she was the Director of the Saudi Fintech Initiative and a member of its Executive Supervisory Committee.

Al-Mulaik began her career with JPMorgan Chase in Riyadh, where she spent ten years working in treasury services and corporate banking until joining the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat) in 2018.

She is now the interim managing director of Fitch Learning, a subsidiary of Fitch Group.

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