Munib al-Masri

Who is Munib al-Masri?

Munib Rashid al-Masri, also known as the "Duke of Nablus", "the Godfather", and the "Palestinian Rothschild", is a Palestinian industrialist, statesman, and patriarch of the al-Masri family, currently serving as chairman of the Edgo Group, a multinational energy and engineering conglomerate, and of PADICO, a holding company which controls thirty-five companies spanning industries as diverse as telecommunications, construction, tourism, energy, banking and other finance, and agriculture. al-Masri is widely described as the world's richest Palestinian, with personal holdings that reportedly account for a third of the Palestinian economy.

Relatives of his include his cousin and fellow billionaire, Arab Bank and Paltel chairman Sabih Al-Masri, and nephews, developer Bashar al-Masri, and Jordanian prime minister Taher al-Masri.

One of Yasser Arafat's closest friends and supporters, al-Masri has served as a minister in the cabinets of both the Palestinian National Authority and Jordan, and has on multiple occasions declined both the presidency and the prime ministership of the state of Palestine, although he retains an elected seat in the Palestine Legislative Council. Alongside influential Israeli businessmen like tech mogul Yossi Vardi, al-Masri has forcefully advocated for a peaceful two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, through the Breaking the Impasse initiative.