A collaborative research project between New York University Abu Dhabi and Tharawat Family Business Forum

Spotlight

Al Masaood

Information last updated on 26 June 2022

Snapshot

Founding

Family Name:

Al Masaood

Co-Founders’ Names

Ahmed, Abdullah and Rahma Al Masaood (brothers)

Earliest Documented Business Name:

Al Masaood Group[1]

Founding Year:

1968 [2]

Founding Location:

United Arab Emirates

Today

Current Operating Status:

Operating

Family Business Name:

Al Masaood Group

Headquarters Location:

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Key Industries:

Automotive, industrial, insurance, real estate, retail, marine

Number of Employees:

2000+ [3]

ABOUT THE CO-FOUNDERS

The Al Masaood family has a long tradition as merchants in the Arabian Gulf,[4] dating back to Masaood Bin Salem Al Meheirbi, who worked in the pearling trade from the late 19th century[5] until the decline of the industry in the 1930s.[6] His son Mohamed bin Masaood[7] inherited his father’s entrepreneurial spirit, and established a small trading house[8] under the name Mohammed bin Masaood and Sons[9] in 1964,[10] laying the foundation for the family business empire that would later be established by his sons.[11]

FOUNDING YEARS

In 1968, Mohammed’s three sons — Ahmed, Abdullah, and Rahma — established Al Masaood Group, building on the family’s entrepreneurial legacy,[12] with the eldest brother, Ahmed, as the group’s first chairperson.[13] The company was the first to be officially registered in Abu Dhabi.[14] Prior to establishing the business, Ahmed, already a leading merchant,[15] had served as the inaugural president of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce.[16] His younger brother Abdullah was the chairperson of the National Consultative Council.[17] Immediately after its establishment, the group partnered with John Brown Engineering and brought the first gas turbine to Abu Dhabi. The family firm also built the first desalination plant in the UAE.[18]

GROWTH PHASE

Over the next two decades, the company continued to diversify its portfolio, expanding into engineering, the automotive industry, construction, and industrial equipment. It secured partnerships with several international industry leaders based in the UK, Sweden, Germany, and Japan. Perhaps the most important of these partnerships were those with Volvo Penta and Datsun (now Nissan) — the Al Masaood Group were the first to bring Nissan cars to the UAE in 1972 — and later Bridgestone in 1974.[19] Ahmed Al Masaood passed away in London in 1978,[20] and leadership of the group was handed over to Abdullah.[21] Shortly after, Al Masaood signed an official distributor agreement for UD Trucks in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and the Western Region, and in 1984 the group became the official distributor of Nissan cars.[22]

 

One of Al Masaood’s key contributions to the UAE came during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Amid the conflict and growing regional tensions, the Emirati government needed over 4,000 cars. Al Masaood Group could not meet the demand alone, so Abdullah Al Masaood purchased cars from various neighboring countries until he was able to guarantee the full supply. He later refused to be reimbursed by the government, considering what he had done as his patriotic duty.[23] [24]

 

From that point onward, the Al Masaood Group’s network of international business connections only grew. In 1994, the group entered into a strategic partnership with Oshkosh, a heavy-duty commercial vehicles manufacturer. In 1999, it officially launched an engineering division, becoming a provider of services to the power, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries in the UAE and across the rest of the GCC region. One year later, Al Masaood acquired distribution agreements for Renault Trucks, a license that eventually grew to cover all Renault vehicles. In 2003, Al Masaood’s TBA Division signed a Rapid Oil Change (ROC) Agreement with Total (now TotalEnergies).[25] This was one major step in the Al Masaood Group’s geographic expansion of its partnership portfolio, which by this point also included companies in Australia and the United States.

 

In 2009, Abdullah Al Masaood established Abdulla Al Masaood & Sons in Abu Dhabi,[26] running the new firm with his sons[27] independently from the main group, which he still served as chairman. The Al Masaood Group continued to diversify, moving into industries such as hospitality and real estate.[28]In 2017, Masaood Ahmed Al Masaood was appointed chairman of the group following the retirement of his uncle Abdullah.[29] Abdullah Al Masaood passed away two years later[30] at the age of 73.[31]

TODAY

Today, Al Masaood Group has over 2,000 employees who work in 73 distinct business units spanning over 18 market segments in UAE and Bahrain.[32] Masaood Ahmed Al Masaood continues to chair the company, with five other second-generation members making up the board of directors.[33]

Notes

Photo Credit: Co-founding brothers Ahmed, Abdullah and Rahma Al Masaood. Source: Masaood website

[1] Al Masaood 50 Years of Growing with the Nation – History. Directed by Al Masaood, 2021. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJguKVJS8SU. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[2] Mughal, Waqar. “Al Masaood Group – Top 100 Arab Family Businesses in the Middle East 2021.” Forbes Lists, https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/lists/top-100-arab-family-businesses-in-the-middle-east-2021/al-masaood-group/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[3] Al Masaood Corporate Brochure. https://www.masaood.com/media/178114/al-masaood-corporate-brochure-a4-c.pdf. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[4] Munir, Awais. Ahmed Thesis with Nissan Addition. www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/44612239/Ahmed_Thesis_with_nissan_addition. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[5] رياض, سماح. “من هو رجل الأعمال الإماراتي الراحل عبدالله المسعود؟.” إرم نيوز, https://www.eremnews.com/news/1700357. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[6] United Arab Emirates University, and K. Aqil. “PEARL INDUSTRY IN THE UAE REGION IN 1869-1938: ITS CONSTRUCTION, REPRODUCTION, AND DECLINE.” RUDN Journal of Sociology, vol. 18, no. 3, 2018, pp. 452–69. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2272-2018-18-3-452-469. P. 464. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[7] “عبدالله بن علي الشعفار ترك برحيله فراغاً كبيراً.” صحيفة الخليج, https://www.alkhaleej.ae/%D9%85%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%82/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%83%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%8B. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022.

[8] رياض, سماح. “من هو رجل الأعمال الإماراتي الراحل عبدالله المسعود؟.” إرم نيوز, https://www.eremnews.com/news/1700357Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[9] “About Us – Masaood TBA.” Masood TBA, https://masaoodtba.com/about/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[10] Refenitiv

[11] رياض, سماح. “من هو رجل الأعمال الإماراتي الراحل عبدالله المسعود؟.” إرم نيوز, https://www.eremnews.com/news/1700357. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022.

[12]  Mughal, Waqar. “Al Masaood Group – Top 100 Arab Family Businesses in the Middle East 2021.” Forbes Lists, https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/lists/top-100-arab-family-businesses-in-the-middle-east-2021/al-masaood-group/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[13] Entrepreneur Middle East. https://assets.entrepreneur.com/magazine/2021-03-entrepreneur-middle-east.pdf. Last page. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[14] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[15]Kanoo, Khalid M. The House of Kanoo : A Century of an Arabian Family Business. London : London Centre of Arab Studies, 1997. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/houseofkanoo00khal. P. 206. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[16] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[17] “Abu Dhabi Awards.” Abu Dhabi Awards, https://www.abudhabiawards.ae/en/recipient/his-excellency-abdulla-mohamed-al-masaood/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[18] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[19] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[20]Kanoo, Khalid M. The House of Kanoo : A Century of an Arabian Family Business. London : London Centre of Arab Studies, 1997. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/houseofkanoo00khal. P. 206. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[21]Editor. “Al Masaood Group Appoints a New Chairman.” Dhow Net, 31 Mar. 2017, https://dhow.com/2017/03/31/al-masaood-group-appoints-new-chairman/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[22] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[23]كلمة الشيخ محمد بن زايد عن المسعود في القمة الحكومية. Directed by ALHOSANYTube, 2015. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF-1DTTzJl0. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[24] Contributors, Mark Otto, Jacob Thornton, and Bootstrap. عبدالله بن محمد المسعود. http://manhom.com\/شخصيات/%d8%b9%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%af. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[25] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[26] AMS | Abdulla Al Masaood & Sons. https://www.amsgroup.ae/contactams.php. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[27] رياض, سماح. “من هو رجل الأعمال الإماراتي الراحل عبدالله المسعود؟.” إرم نيوز, https://www.eremnews.com/news/1700357. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[28] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our History. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-history/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[29] Al Masaood Group Appoints New Chairman. https://gulfnews.com/business/al-masaood-group-appoints-new-chairman-1.2002585. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[30]“محمد بن زايد يقدم واجب العزاء في وفاة عبدالله محمد المسعود المحيربي.” Wam, الإثنين، ٢٥ فبراير ٢٠١٩ – ٧:٤٩ م, http://wam.ae/ar/details/1395302742642. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[31] “محمد بن زايد يقدم واجب العزاء في وفاة عبدالله محمد المسعود المحيربي.” Wam, الإثنين، ٢٥ فبراير ٢٠١٩ – ٧:٤٩ م, http://wam.ae/ar/details/1395302742642. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[32] Al Masaood Corporate Brochure. https://www.masaood.com/media/178114/al-masaood-corporate-brochure-a4-c.pdf. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

[33] About Al Masaood | UAE | Our Team. https://www.masaood.com/en/about-us/our-team/. Last Accessed 26 Jul. 2022

To cite this article please use:

“Al Masaood” Family Business Histories Research Project, New York University Abu Dhabi and Tharawat Family Business Forum, 20 Mar. 2023, familybusinesshistories.org/spotlights/al-masaood