Olayan Group

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Suliman Saleh Olayan was born in 1918 in Unayzah into a family of merchants. His hometown, in modern-day Saudi Arabia, was a hub for trade activities across the peninsula.^[5] Suleiman’s father, Saleh, was a well-established regional trader based in the holy city of Medina. In 1915, Saleh established a foodstuffs business in Unayzah, employing his eldest son, Hamad, who would regularly travel to Bahrain for trade.

In 1923, Saleh passed away, and four-year-old Suliman was raised by his grandmother. In 1925, Hamad moved to Bahrain after getting married and brought his young brother with him. There, Suliman attended the American Missionary School, where he learned English and was a top student.^{[6] [7]}

At the age of 17, Suliman quit school and took his first job at BAPCO (Bahrain Petroleum Company).^[8] One year later, he relocated to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to join Arabian American Oil Company (now Saudi Aramco), where he worked as a transportation dispatcher,^[9] like many Saudi youth at the time. When he joined the company, he was its 40th employee. He spent the following nine years managing storehouse inventories.^[10] In the early 1940s, Suleiman married, and his eldest child, son Khaled, was born in 1945.^[11] Three daughters followed over the next decade: Hutham, Hayat, and Lubna who was youngest daughter, born in 1955.

FOUNDING STORY

Throughout his years at Aramco, Suliman’s mastery of English proved advantageous as it brought him into contact with the company’s senior executives. He would regularly assist in translation, facilitating communications with the local government. This exposure eventually won him a promotion to a position in government relations.^{[12] [13]} Suliman was sent to Ras Al Mishab and assigned to the Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline) project, translating between the local contractors and the American project owners. Granted permission by Aramco to pick up some of the contract work for himself,^[14] he took out a personal loan secured by his own home and established General Contracting Company (GCC) in 1947.^[15] The company handled essential trucking and supply transportation services,^[16] and by 1950, his fleet had grown into 150 trucks.^[17]

GROWTH PHASE

As Tapline granted him more contracts, he continued working with Aramco’s government relations in an unofficial capacity.^[18] In the early 1950s, Suliman moved to diversify his business beyond the Tapline project.^[19]  In 1953, he played a key role in developing Saudi Arabia’s earliest electrical power facilities, ultimately founding the country’s first public utility, the National Gas Company (today the National Gas and Industrialization Co.).^[20]  In 1954, he diversified into consumer foods and distribution, establishing the General Trading Company (GTC).^[21] Around the same time, GCC became heavily involved in logistical services and, following an accident in which two GCC employees were killed, Suliman founded Arab Commercial Enterprises, introducing commercial insurance to Saudi Arabia.^[22] In 1959, he opened a commercial and financial office in Beirut.^[23]

In the early 1960s, Suliman began venturing into international investments, primarily in the US. Expanding into new sectors such as manufacturing, foodstuffs, engineering, and automotive, he also acquired exclusive distributorships for brands such as Kimberly-Clark, General Foods, Pillsbury, Hunt Wesson, Cummins Engine, Kenworth, and Atlas Copco. Further diversification into private equities and real estate followed.^[24] In the 1970s, Suliman opened offices in New York,^[25] London, and Athens and in 1977, he consolidated his businesses under the Olayan Group.^[26]

The group continued its growth in the 1980s with the acquisition of stakes in First Chicago Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. In 1983, Suleiman asked his youngest daughter, Lubna, to join the company after her return to Riyadh from studying the US. Starting as his executive assistant, through a series of promotions she eventually became CEO of Olayan Financing Company.^[27] In 1985, her sister Hutham took charge of the group’s US operations.^[28] In 1988, the Olayan Group established a Saudi franchise for Coca-Cola products, subsequently opening multiple bottling plants. The group also became the exclusive Burger King franchisee across the Middle East.^[29]

Suliman Olayan passed away in July 2002 at the age of 83, and was succeeded by his son, Khaled, as group chairman. ^[30]  Six years later, the group took a significant stake in Visa Inc.^[31]

TODAY

Today, the Olayan Group has over 35,000 employees and an enormous global business portfolio.^[32] In 2016, Forbes Middle East ranked the Olayans as the richest family in the entire region.^[33] Suleiman’s daughters are among the first Saudi women to attain major leadership positions in the private sector, for which they have been widely honored. In 2021, Hutham Olayan was named the sixth most powerful Arab businesswomen by Forbes Middle East,^[34] and her younger sister Lubna became the first woman to head a Saudi foreign business council.^[35]