Lubna Olayan

Lubna Olayan is CEO of the Olayan Financing Company, putting her in charge of over 40 companies, one of the largest investors in the Saudi and regional stock markets, and some $10bn. In 1983, Lubna Olayan became the first women in KSA to work for her father’s business, and in 2016 she was listed by Forbes as the 65th most powerful woman in the world.

As the only woman in a 4,000 strong workforce for 18 years of her life, she is a bastion of female empowerment.

In 2004 she became the first Saudi woman to deliver a keynote address at the Jeddah Economic Forum, and became the first woman to be elected to a board position in the Kingdom, when she joined Saudi Hollandi Bank.

She has served on the board of trustees of KAUST and INSEAD, as well as Rolls Royce, Schlumberger and British advertising giant WPP. She is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign relations.

In her own words:

“I am a proponent … of a true meritocracy that sees the right person in the right position for the right reasons, regardless of gender.”