Fadi Ghandour (born 1959) is a Jordanian-Lebanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is the Executive Chairman o
Wamda
a platform that builds and invests in entrepreneurship ecosystems across the

Middle East and North Africa MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

, Turkey and East Africa through Ecosystem Development programs and a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

fund investing in technology-enabled companies that operate in these markets.

Early life and education

The son of Ali Ghandour, founder of Royal Jordanian Airlines, and Altaf Daher, Fadi Ghandour was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in 1959. He graduated from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1981.

Career

In 1982, he co-founded

Aramex Aramex is an Emirati (Jordanian Origin) multinational logistics, courier and package delivery company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company was founded by Fadi Ghandour and Bill Kingson in 1982 in Amman, Jordan. It is the firs ...

with Bill Kingson. Aramex is one of the largest package delivery and logistics companies in the Middle East and North African region, a market previously unevenly served by other courier services. In 1997, Ghandour took Aramex public on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

, making it the first company from the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

to be listed on an American stock exchange, before taking it private again in 2002. Aramex went public once more in 2005 and is currently listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). It is now a global logistics and transportation provider, employing over 17,000 people working in over 600 offices across 70 countries. Ghandour stepped down as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Aramex in 2012, concluding a thirty-year tenure. He remains on the company's board. Ghandour is a key figure and active member of

MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

's startup ecosystem. He is a founding investor of

Maktoob Maktoob ( ar, مكتوب) was an online services company founded in Amman (Jordan). Maktoob.com was known for being the first Arabic/English email service provider. In 2009, Yahoo! acquired Maktoob.com, thus turning Maktoob into Yahoo!'s officia ...

, acquired by Yahoo! in 2009. Throughout his years as serial entrepreneur and mentor in MENA, Ghandour identified gaps he believed were stalling the growth of the region's entrepreneurship ecosystem, namely opening regional markets, financing and mentorship. Ghandour also called on corporates to be further engaged in supporting entrepreneurship in their markets, and has coined the term ‘Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility’. In 2010, he launched MENA Venture Investments (MVI), an angel investment company, to invest in tech-enabled businesses at the seed stage. MVI invested in companies such as

Souq.com Souq.com was the largest e-commerce platform in the Arab world. The company launched in 2005 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On March 28, 2017, Amazon.com Inc. acquired Souq.com for $580 million as a subsidiary. On May 1, 2019, Souq.com UAE becam ...

, initially an auction site linked to

and later spun off as an e-commerce platform, which was acquired by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

in 2016. In parallel to MVI, Wamda was launched to offer a knowledge and research platform as well as community programs for entrepreneurs and supporting stakeholders in the MENA region. In 2014, Ghandour launche
Wamda Capital
an early-stage investment fund, focusing on investing in early-stage technology startups in the Middle East, Turkey and East Africa. Fadi Ghandour also served on the board of

The Abraaj Group The Abraaj Group was a private equity firm operating in six continents that is currently in liquidation due to accusations of fraud. The firm was founded by Pakistani businessman Arif Naqvi and was based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. History ...

, which was an emerging markets investor, and had close ties to its founder Arif Naqvi (who was a partner at MVI) prior to it collapsing.

Philanthropy

Ghandour is the Founder and Chairman o
Ruwwad for Development
a non-profit community empowerment platform launched in 2005 supporting marginalized communities through activism, civic engagement, education and financial inclusion operating in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Ruwwad focuses on three areas of impact through its youth organizing, child development, community support, and community-led campaigns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghandour, Fadi Living people 1959 births Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Venture capitalists Jordanian businesspeople George Washington University alumni