Meet man who built Rs 66000 crore business empire, spent Rs 1527 crore on a hotel, his net worth is…

Kerala man who is among the richest Indians based out of the UAE, MA Yusuff Ali was also behind one of the biggest real estate transformations in the world in recent times. The retail billionaire heads the $8 billion (over Rs 66000 crore) revenue LuLu Group known for its massive malls.

Back in 2015, Yusuff Ali’s hospitality investment firm Twenty14 Holdings had acquired one of the UK capital London’s most iconic properties. Ali’s company bought the former headquarters of the police force for a whopping Rs 1025 crore. It was then transformed into a 7-floor, 153-room and 15-suite luxury hotel called the Great Scotland Yard hotel for an additional Rs 512 crore, according to a Times of India report. The premium heritage hotel finally opened in 2019.

Hailing from Kerala’s Thrissur district, Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader left for Abu Dhabi in 1973. He first joined a small distribution business run by his uncle. Slowly he ventured out independently. He opened the first LuLu hypermarket in the 1990s which rapidly grew in popularity.

Yusuff Ali is today among the 500 richest people in the world. Known as the retail king of the Middle East, his company runs 272 stores and shopping malls all over the world. The royal family of Abu Dhabi reportedly acquired a 20 percent stake in his LuLu Group in 2020 for $1 billion.

The LuLu group has opened multiple malls in India in recent years. It also owns the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel in Scotland. Yusuff Ali is also among the most charitable persons in India. His son-in-law Shamsheer Vayalil is also a billionaire businessman. Yusuff Ali’s net worth stands at a whopping over Rs 48,800 crore ($5.9 billion).