Lubna S. Olayan

Chair of the Corporate Board; Chair, Saudi Awwal Bank

Lubna Suliman Olayan was born in Riyadh, graduated from Cornell University and earned an MBA from Indiana University. She joined the Olayan Group in 1983, led Olayan Financing Company as chief executive and later became chair of the group's corporate board. She was the first woman to chair a Saudi bank, taking the chair of the Saudi British Bank and then of Saudi Awwal Bank after its 2019 merger with Alawwal Bank. In 2004 she became the first Saudi woman to deliver a keynote address at the Jeddah Economic Forum, and she was among the first women appointed to the board of a listed Saudi company. She has appeared repeatedly on Forbes lists of the world's most powerful women and serves as a trustee of Cornell University and a member of the World Economic Forum's International Business Council.