Majid Jafar
Majid Hamid Jafar (Arabic مجيد حميد جعفر; born 1976) is a UAE businessman of Iraqi origin and the CEO of Crescent Petroleum. He is vice-chairman of the Crescent Group and the managing director of Dana Gas (PJSC). In 2014, he was named one of the Middle East Online's 50 most influential Arabs. Early life and career. Majid Jafar is the eldest son of Hamid Jafar, founder of Crescent Petroleum and is chairman of the Crescent Group. His is a grandson of Dhia Jafar, an Iraqi politician and cabinet minister during the reign of King Faisal II  until 1958. Jafar was born and raised in Sharjah, and subsequently attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering. He holds a master's degree in international studies and diplomacy from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jafar worked for Shell London. In 2004, he joined Crescent Petroleum at their headquarters in Sharjah, UAE. He became CEO in 2011. Crescent's current business and exploration is in Iraq, where the Jafar family originates from.Jafar has  argued for an expansion of the private sector in natural resources, citing Sharjah as role model for possible developments. In 2013 Jafar was elected vice-chairman of the now defunct Global Energy Initiative. In 2017, Jafar co-chaired the WEF MENA Summit (together with other co-chairs like McKinsey's former managing partner Dominic Barton). Awards. In 2013 Jafar was named by Oil&Gas Middle East magazine as one of the 25 most powerful people in the Middle East oil and gas sector. Also in 2013, he was listed among the top 100 business leaders from the Middle East by ITP  Media Group and was awarded as "Visionary of the Year" at its CEO Middle East Awards. He was also awarded as Energy CEO of 2013 by Amwal magazine. In 2014, he was listed among the world's 100 most powerful Arabs and amongst the leading "Thinkers" by Arabian Business. Jafar was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2016. Jafar was named as one of 100 inspiring leaders in the Middle East by Arabian Business magazine in 2018, and was listed in the same year in the top 50 of "Dubai's 100: Most influential  people in the Emirate", by Arabian Business. Other work. Jafar has written op-eds for the Daily Telegraph and HuffPost and been interviewed on BBC and CNBC.Jafar authored the opening chapter of "Performance and Progress: Essays on Capitalism, Business and Society" published in 2015 by Oxford University Press. Jafar was the founding chair of the now defunct Centre for Economic Growth Business Council which was based at the INSEAD campus in Abu Dhabi. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Malcolm Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, and the board of the Queen Rania Foundation. He is a  member of the International Advisory Council of the Atlantic Council. Jafar was previously a member of the board of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce (UAE), and the Sharjah Expo, and the Iraqi-British Friendship Society. He is a former trustee of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) and a board member of the Iraqi Energy Institute, a member of the Young Presidents Organisation and formerly served on a panel of senior advisors of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London. He also sits on the board of trustees at the Kalimat Foundation for Children's  Empowerment. He was the co-chair of the Business Backs Education campaign, which aims to motivate companies to increase their CSR spending. Jafar is the Co-founder of the Loulou Foundation, which he established together with his wife to address their eldest daughter Alia's rare disease (CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder). In 2020 the couple also established an endowed scholarship at Harvard Medical School to support medial students from the Middle East region. Jafar is a member of the Board of Fellows and the Discovery Council of Harvard Medical School. Majid Jafar's father, Hamid Jafar, supported the Jafar Research Professorship  of Petroleum Engineering at Cambridge University in 1996 and the Jafar Centre for Executive Education at the American University of Sharjah. In 2015, the Jafar Hall was opened by the Prince of Wales at Eton College. Personal life. He is married to Lynn Barghout Jafar, and they have three children (two girls and 1 boy). His wife co-founded and manages High Hopes Dubai, a pediatric therapy center, which was opened in November 2017 by Princess Haya bint Hussein.