Great Wealth Transfer Sparks Major Shift In UAE's Family Business Ownership

A sweeping generational shift is transforming how family businesses across the UAE are owned, governed and prepared for the future, as the region undergoes what experts describe as a historic“great wealth transfer.” According to senior leaders at Deloitte, this transition is not only transferring assets from founders to heirs - it is fundamentally reshaping the structures that underpin some of the region's most influential companies.

Dr. Rebecca Gooch, Deloitte Private Global Head of Insights, describes the UAE and wider Middle East as“one of the fastest‐growing family business arenas in the world,” citing data showing more than 500 families run companies generating over $100 million in revenue, a figure expected to rise by 10 per cent by 2030. She attributes this dramatic rise to“unprecedented wealth creation, pro‐business reform, and a new wave of next‐generation leaders who are professionalizing their organizations at speed.”

But the demographic shift underway is proving just as significant as the economic one. Gooch notes that“the great wealth transfer is fundamentally reshaping family business ownership structures in the UAE,” adding that as control moves from founders to their children, companies are moving away from“informal, personality‐driven leadership models to more institutionalized structures.”

Hadi Allawi, Partner and Family Enterprise Leader at Deloitte Middle East, echoes the same sentiment.“As wealth transitions to the next generation, Middle Eastern families are proactively reshaping ownership and leadership models, ensuring their businesses remain agile, sustainable, and globally competitive,” he says, highlighting how strategic long‐term planning has become integral rather than optional.

This restructuring comes at a time when UAE family businesses are accelerating global expansion. Over the next two years, Gooch says Europe has become the top destination for growth, offering“stable regulatory environments, high‐value consumer markets, and strategic technology assets.”.

However, as families scale rapidly and expand internationally, they face a growing set of internal and external risks. According to Deloitte findings cited by Gooch, 68 per cent of family businesses in the Middle East now see economic uncertainty as a high or moderate external risk, while 52 per cent rank cyberattack vulnerability as a significant internal risk.“The most sophisticated families are responding proactively,” she explains,“investing in digital infrastructure, adopting enterprise‐wide risk management practices, strengthening their boards, and formalizing decision‐making processes.” Governance, she notes, is increasingly viewed not as a defensive measure but as“a source of competitive advantage.”

At the centre of this transformation is a delicate but deliberate balance between legacy and modernisation.“UAE family businesses are striking a more deliberate balance between preserving traditional family control and embedding modern governance,” Gooch observes, pointing to the rise of active family councils and more professional boards with independent directors. Formal frameworks are increasingly guiding conflict resolution, succession planning and leadership development.

Both Gooch and Allawi stress that the long‐term sustainability of UAE family enterprises depends on how effectively they navigate this generational pivot. Gooch summarises the shift as one aimed at ensuring that transitions“aren't just smooth, but that they strengthen the long‐term sustainability of the enterprise.” Allawi reinforces the point, noting that the families who get ahead of the transition will be best positioned to thrive:“They are redefining how they operate to ensure they can compete not only regionally but globally.”

As one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in modern history unfolds, the UAE's family businesses - long considered the backbone of the nation's economy - are entering a new era. Institutionalisation, stronger governance, clearer ownership structures and empowered next‐generation leaders are no longer aspirational goals: they are becoming the defining features of the region's most successful multi‐generational enterprises.

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