Saad Al Barrak

Saad Al Barrak is a Kuwaiti businessman, entrepreneur and investor. Best known for his role as the CEO of Zain Group, Al Barrak created an telecommunications empire in the MENA region.[1]

Dr. Saad Al Barrak
Born (1955-09-05) 5 September 1955
Farwaniyah, Kuwait
CitizenshipKuwait
Alma materGeorgetown University, Ohio University, Harvard Business School, University of London
OccupationBusinessman, Engineer
Websitewww.saadalbarrak.com

Early life

Saad Al Barrak was born in the Farwaniyah District of Kuwait, the seventh of eleven brothers and five sisters, the son of Hamad Al Barrak, a book keeper, for one of the prominent business men in Kuwait. Musallam Al-Barrak, ex MP, is a nephew of Saad Al Barrak (son of his brother, Mohammed Al-Barrak, also an MP, in the first Kuwaiti parliament of 1963)[2]

Career

Al Barrak started his career with a short stint at Kuwait Prefab Industries, during a short break in between his Bachelors and master's degrees. After completion of his master's degree, he taught at the Kuwait Institute of Applied Technology as a part of the conditions of the government scholarship that he was given. Upon being persuaded by an old friend, he joined ITS as a project engineer. Within a year, he was put in charge of Project teams and sent on training courses to the UK and US. By the end of 1985 he was appointed as Systems Development Manager and in (months after that was promoted to Assistant Director General for Sales and Systems support. In 1987, he was appointed CEO of ITS, barely 4 years after he had joined them as a Project Engineer. Al Barrak, resigned as CEO in 2001 and continued as managing director until 2002. Mobile Telecommunications Co. (MTC) had just been divested by the government and been taken over by the Al Kharafi Group, and Al Barrak became managing director of MTC which later re-branded as Zain Group in 2002 until he resigned in February 2010.[3] He started ILA, an advisory firm in December 2010.[2]

Awards
  • 2003 - E-businessman of the year, Arabian Business e-achievement award[4]
  • 2007 - Lifetime achievement award, Comms MEA[5]
  • 2008 - Arab Ad man of the year, Arab Ad[6]
  • 2008 - International Investor award, Africa Investor[7]
  • 2008 - Telecom CEO of the year, CEO Middle East
  • 2008 - Visionary award, Bespoke[7]
  • 2009 - Editor's Award for Individual Contribution to the telecoms industry, Global Telecoms Business[8]
  • 2012 - Kuwaiti Business Man of the year, Arabian Business[9]
  • 2012 - Outstanding contribution to Business, CEO Middle East[10]

Bibliography
  • Al Barrak, Saad (February 2012). A Passion for Adventure-turning Zain into a telecom Giant. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing. ISBN 978-99921-94-88-1.

References
  1. "Subscribe to read | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-06-06. Cite uses generic title (help)
  2. Al Barrak, Saad (2012). A Passion for Adventure. Qatar: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing. ISBN 978-99921-94-88-1.
  3. "Saad al Barrak resigns from Zain". The National. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  4. "MTC's Dr Saad Al-Barrak voted eBusinessman of the year". Zain. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  5. "MTC scores hat-trick at CommsMEA awards". Arabian Business. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  6. "Arab Ad awards Dr. Saad Al Barrak 'Man of the Year 2008'". Media ME. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  7. "Zain Group chief wins three awards". New Vision, Uganda. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  8. "GTB Innovation Awards: results in full". Global Telecom Business. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  9. "Ex-Zain CEO wins Kuwaiti Businessman of the Year". Arabian Business. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  10. "Dr Saad Al Barrak Wins Prestigious Award". Arab Times. Retrieved 12 July 2013.


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