Indian businessman M.A. Yusuff Ali is the head of the Lulu Group and he has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion as of March 2013 according to Forbes. He also made it to the Forbes Billionaires list for the first time. He is the 35th richest person in India and is ranked 974th on the list of World Billionaires.

Mr. Yusuff Ali used to be a part of a small trading business owned by his family. He now manages the Abu Dhabi-headquartered the company whose flagship is the Lulu retail chain with $4.25 billion in sales. Recently, it is ranked by Deloitte as one of the ten fastest growing retailers in the world. It operates a string of hypermarkets, supermarkets, and grocery stores in the Middle East and Africa. It also plans to open its first mall in India. Today, Lulu Group has business interests in healthcare, software, and infrastructure with operations in 21 countries.

The Middle East retail magnate was born on November 15, 1955 in Nattika, Thrissur district in Kerala, India. He migrated to Abu Dhabi in the 1970's to join his family’s business. He started his own business career by importing frozen foods before he founded Lulu during the Gulf War. It later established its name as the provider of value-for-money goods. Ali used to be a backer of Cochin Airport, India’s first airport built through a public-private partnership, in his native Kerala state. He is also the owner of two Marriot Hotels and a Grand Hyatt Hotel in the same city. Recently, he was in the news as he bid to buy a minority stake in the Catholic Syrian Bank.