Saud Bahwan (Mohammed Saud Bahwan) (born 1938/39) is an Omani billionaire businessman.

Early life and career

Bahwan began as a small-scale trader in Sur, with one

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spor ...

, inherited from his father, doing business between Oman and India. In 1965, he moved to the capital,

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is s ...

and opened a shop in the

Muttrah Souq Muttrah, ( ar, مطرح) administratively a wilayah (province), is located in the Muscat Governorate of Oman. Before the discovery of oil in Oman, Muttrah was the center of commerce in Oman (Muscat). It is still a center of commerce as one of t ...

with his brother Saud, named Suhail & Saud Bahwan, initially they traded in construction equipment and fishing nets. In 1968, he obtained the local license for

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

, and then one for

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. The Saud Bahwan Group is now the largest privately owned business in Oman, with diverse business interests including fertilizers, healthcare, construction and automobiles. In 2002, he split with his brother, and as a result, the Saud Bahwan was divided into two groups. In 2016, Bahwan passed much of the responsibility for running the Saud Bahwan Group to Mohammed Nasser, his sixth child, and Amal Bahwan,Mohammed Saud Bhawan Gulf Business
/ref> his second-eldest daughter. In 2021, he was the only Omani on ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''' annual World's Billionaires ranking. During April 2022, the French prosecutor's office in

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

issued an international arrest warrant for Bahwan, along with former Renault CEO,

Carlos Ghosn Carlos Ghosn (; ; ar, كارلوس غصن; , born 9 March 1954) is a businessman who holds Brazilian and French nationality. Ghosn was the CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Nis ...

following an investigation into whether they helped divert funds from carmaker

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

to its former chair and chief executive for personal use. In 2022, his fortune supposedly dropped by $600 million.

Awards

* 2017: Sheikh Issa bin Ali al Khalifa Award for voluntary work by the Arab League

Personal life

Bahwan is married with 15 children, and lives in

, Oman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahwan, Saud 1930s births Living people People from Sur, Oman Omani billionaires Omani businesspeople Omani company founders