M. A. Yusuff Ali | |
|---|---|
 Yusuff Ali in 2023 | |
| Born | Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader (1955-11-15)15 November 1955 (age 70) |
| Occupations | Chairman and managing director of
|
| Office | Y Tower,Abu Dhabi[3] |
| Spouse | Shabira Yusuff Ali |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Shamsheer Vayalil (son-in-law)[4] |
| Website | Website |
Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader, popularly known asM. A. Yusuff Ali (born 15 November 1955), is an Indian businessman andbillionaire.[5] He is the chairman and managing director ofLuLu Group International, which owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain worldwide andLuLu International Shopping Mall.[6] With an annual turnover of US$8.4 billion, LuLu Group International employs the largest number ofIndian diaspora.[7][8] According to Forbes Middle East, Yusuff Ali was ranked No. 1 in Top 100 Indian business owners in the Arab World 2018.[6] As per Forbes billionaires list published in October 2023, he was ranked 27th richest Indian with net worth of US$6.9 billion.[5]
In 2006, he started his large business ventures in India, by starting a convention centre cum hotel at his native placeThrissur,Kerala namelyLulu Convention Centre.[9] In 2013, Yusuff Ali acquired 4.99% of theThrissur-basedCSB Bank[10][11] and 4.99% shares of Thrissur basedDhanlaxmi Bank.[12] Also in 2013, he increased his stake in theAluva-basedFederal Bank to 4.47%.[13] In 2014 Yusuff Ali acquired 2% stake ofSouth Indian Bank - another Thrissur based bank.[14] In 2016, Yusuff Ali purchased theScotland Yard Building in London.[15] As of 2013[update], he held a 9.37% share inCochin International Airport.[16] He has bought a 10% stake in the UK-based trading firm,East India Company, and a 40% stake in its fine foods subsidiary for around $85 million in total.[17][18][19]
The Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre onBolghatty Island inKochi is one of the largest convention centres in South Asia,[20] along withGrand Hyatt hotel[21] in the same campus. Lulu group's First Mall in India wasLuLu International Shopping Mall, Kochi started in 2013, then in 2019, he started shopping mall in India atTriprayar, Thrissur, the Y Mall.[22][23] In October 2021, Lulu group opened their second mall in India, Global Mall, at Rajaji Nagar,Bengaluru,Karnataka.[24] In December 2021, Lulu group opened their third mall in India atThiruvananthapuram, Kerala.[25] In July 2022, Lulu group opened their fourth mall in India atLucknow, Uttar Pradesh.[25] And in 2023, LuLu Group launched a new hypermarket and mall in Hyderabad, Palakkad and Coimbatore.[26][27]
As per Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, in October 2024 Yusuff Ali was ranked 39th with a net worth of $7.4 billion.[28]
Yusuff Ali was born on 15th November 1955 atNattika,Thrissur, in the erstwhileState of Travancore–Cochin. He studied at St. Xavier's High School in Karanchira.[29] He holds a diploma in Business Management and Administration.[30]
After his studies, he left India in 1973 forAbu Dhabi, where his paternal uncle, M. K. Abdullah, the chairman and the founder of the LuLu Group of Companies, was doing business. He developed the import and wholesale distribution of the group and ventured into the supermarket business by launching the Lulu Hypermarket.
Yusuff Ali started his first LuLu Hypermarket in the 1990s, a time when theUAE's retail sector witnessed a major change, with the traditional groceries and supermarkets yielding place to large neighbourhood stores and hypermarkets. While the entry of Continent (nowCarrefour) in 1995 changed the face of retail business inDubai, Yusuff Ali took charge of Abu Dhabi's retail sector by rolling out LuLu Hypermarket.[31][32]
LuLu Group International commenced its operations as a family business venture. After joining the business, Yusuff Ali diversified the business to include the import and distribution of frozen products from Europe and the United States. The products were available not only in Abu Dhabi but also in otherEmirates. The business was soon expanded to include both food and non-food categories. The group also started cold storage, meat, and food processing plants, large-scale import and distribution to hotel groups, catering companies, and shipping services. By the 1980s, the group had a sizable share of the wholesale and retail food market in the UAE.
The group has grown into an international group with operations spread over three continents. The group's flagship retail chain of LuLu Hypermarkets and Supermarkets is currently rated as one of the major players in the Middle East retail sector with more than 100 stores inArab states of the Persian Gulf. Apart from the hypermarkets, supermarkets and department stores, the group also owns several shopping malls, namely,Khalidiyah Mall, Al Raha Mall,Al Wahda Mall,Mushriff Mall, Madinat Zayed Mall, Mazyad Mall, Ramli Mall, RAK Mall, Al Foah Mall, Al Khor Mall, Riyadh Avenue Mall in Saudi Arabia and Oman Avenues Mall spread across theGCC states.
LuLu International Shopping Mall inKochi, Kerala was opened on 10 March 2013. It is the group's first retail venture in India, and currently the largest shopping mall in India. Lulu International Shopping Mall, Thiruvanthapuram LuLu International Shopping Mall in Thiruvananthapuram was opened in 2021. The Group has a vast organizational structure of over 65,000 employees, representing 42 different nationalities, out of which more than 30,000 are Indians. Retail business is the mainstay of the Group with operations in major Middle Eastern and African countries like UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Kenya, having Retail Sourcing and manufacturing bases located in the Far East, India, Africa andGuangzhou in China. Indian operations mainly include Food Processing, Export of Food & Non food products and convention center with bases in Delhi, Mumbai,Kochi,Thiruvananthapuram,Chennai,Lucknow andThrissur.Deloitte has ranked the Group as one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world.[33][34][35][36][37]
In 2025, LuLu Group inaugurated Kerala's tallest twin IT towers in Kochi's SmartCity, spanning 3.4 million sq ft and accommodating 25,000 professionals.[38]
Yusuff Ali is involved in many social, charitable and humanitarian activities both in India as well as in the Arab states of the Gulf. He has done various philanthropic activities. As part of its Global CSR policy, the LuLu Group joined hands with Dubai Cares and adopted schools inGaza and Nepal.[39][40] Yusuff Ali contributed and took initiative to open a multi-faith funeral centre for the Indian community inSharjah that spread across 8.3 acres.[41] He also took initiative to sell and promote organic products grown by the special needs community in UAE throughLuLu Hypermarkets[42][43] Yusuff Ali donated to theGujarat earthquake,Tsunami Relief Fund in Asia, andTyphoon and flood relief in other parts of the world. He also donated₹9.5crores for relief and rehabilitation ofKerala flood victims in August 2018.[citation needed] He is also actively involved in ensuring the social, economic and religious welfare ofexpatriate Indians in thePersian Gulf region. He played a major role in finding land for theChristian community in the region to build churches, and secure cremation grounds for theHindu populace in the Gulf region. Yusuff Ali also extended help to Indians during the amnesty period in the Persian Gulf when hundreds of Indians lost their livelihood. He helped rehabilitate people who lost their livelihood in theKozhikode market fire as well.[44][45][46] Yusuff Ali had pledged to donateRs 50 million for the flood-hit south Indian state of Kerala in the event of the2019 Kerala floods.[47]
He is married, with three children, and lives in Abu Dhabi, UAE.[48] His elder daughter Shabeena is married to billionaire businessmanShamsheer Vayalil.[49][50] His second daughter Shafeena is married to Adeeb Ahamed who runs Lulu Financial Holdings and Twenty14 Holdings, a hospitality investment firm.[51] Youngest daughter Shifa is married to Sharoon Shamsudheen who is into successful IT businesses.[4]
In April 2021 the helicopter in which Yusuff Ali, his wife and three others including the pilots crash landed in a swamp near Kochi, Kerala. Ali and his wife were uninjured and were taken to a nearby hospital for first aid. The private helicopter owned by the businessman had suffered a technical glitch due to adverse weather.[52]