Emirati mall, supermarket billionaire Majid Al Futtaim dies

Dubai: Emirati billionaire Majid Al Futtaim, who rose from working as a bank clerk to creating an eponymous business empire, including a massive Dubai mall with an indoor ski slope, died on Friday.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced Al Futtaim’s death in a post on Twitter, praising him as one of the sheikhdom’s “most important merchants.” A cause for his death wasn’t immediately announced. Nor was his age. However, prayers for him and his family had circulated on social media in recent days.

Al Futtaim founded Majid Al Futtaim Holding in 1992. Its expanded across the Mideast with malls and other ventures. It also runs over 300 Carrefour supermarkets and hypermarkets across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Its showpiece mall, the Mall of the Emirates, is a major attraction in Dubai and is home to the indoor ski slope.

No further details were immediately available. The company did not immediately respond to queries from The Associated Press. Forbes estimated Al Futtaim’s net worth as over $4 billion.