Najib Mikati

Najib Azmi Mikati (نجيب عزمي ميقاتي; born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman who has served as the prime minister of Lebanon since September 2021.

He also leads a cabinet that has assumed the powers of the president of Lebanon since the term of president Michel Aoun ended in October 2022.

Mikati was born on 24 November 1955 and hails from a prominent Sunni Muslim family based in Tripoli.

In 1979, Najib's older brother Taha Mikati founded Arabian Construction Company (ACC), headquartered in Abu Dhabi, and which became one of the largest construction companies in the Middle East.

He graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1980 with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

He also attended a summer school program held at Harvard and the French business school INSEAD.

Najib Mikati co-founded the telecommunications company Investcom with his brother Taha in 1982.

He also served as Minister of Public Works and Transport from December 1998 to 2003.

After being appointed Minister of Public Works and Transport on 4 December 1998, Mikati was elected to the Lebanese parliament from his hometown of Tripoli in 2000, outpolling Omar Karami, who was elected from the same multimember constituency.

As a parliamentarian, Mikati retained his cabinet position and developed a reputation as a moderately pro-Syrian politician with a normal relationship with Syrian president Bashar Assad.

He was a member of parliament for Tripoli from 2000 to 2005 and was re-elected in 2009 and 2018.

In July 2021, he was designated as Prime Minister.

According to Forbes, he is the richest man in Lebanon, with a net worth of $2.8 billion in 2023.

Mikati has been linked to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, as he made his fortune by operating several telecom projects in Syria and Lebanon in the early 2000s.

Later Mikati was made transportation minister and became an ally of then Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, supporting the extension of his term in 2004.

He is considered a compromise figure, not being close to any particular political bloc.

He is one of the leaders of the Sunni community.

He himself denies any closeness to Hezbollah and describes himself as a liberal, emphasizing his background in business to reassure the United States.

He is the leader of the solidarity bloc, which has had two seats in the Lebanese parliament since 2004.

He also created the centrist movement and ideology in Lebanon and the Arab world, for which he has held many international conferences in Lebanon.

He has previously served as Prime Minister from April to July 2005, and from June 2011 to February 2014.

In 2005, he headed an interim government that supervised the 2005 general election following the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

Mikati was a perennial candidate for Lebanon's prime ministry since 2000, finally taking the office upon the resignation of Omar Karami on 13 April 2005.

During negotiations to form a government, Mikati emerged as a consensus candidate.

Mikati acted as a caretaker premier.

He sold the company in June 2006 to South Africa's MTN Group for $5.5 billion.

He is a major shareholder in the South African telecommunications operator MTN, owner of the high-end fashion brand Façonnable, and an investor in transport, gas, and oil.

He also has investments in real estate, notably in London, New York, and Monaco.

He owns the 79-metre motor yacht Mimtee.

In the general elections of 2009, Mikati won again a seat from Tripoli, being a member of the centrist groups in the Lebanese parliament.

In 2011, he formed his second government, backed by the March 8 alliance, before he resigned in 2013.

On 24 January 2011, the March 8 alliance, specifically Hezbollah, Michel Aoun, and Walid Jumblatt, nominated Mikati to become prime minister.

Mikati succeeded Saad Hariri, whose government was brought down by the resignation of ten of the alliance's ministers and one presidential appointee on 12 January 2011, resulting from the collapse of the Saudi-Syrian initiative to reach a compromise on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

On 25 January, 68 members of the parliament of Lebanon voted in favor of nominating Mikati for Prime Minister.

President of Lebanon Michel Suleiman then invited Mikati to head a new Lebanese government.

The process of government formation lasted for five months due to serious disagreements between leaders.

On 13 June 2011, Mikati became the Prime Minister of Lebanon for the second time.

On 13 June, Mikati announced the formation of the government and stated that it would begin by "liberating land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy".

He has been subject to multiple corruption accusations, and in 2019 he was charged in Lebanon with illegitimate gains.

In 2023, an investigation in Monaco cleared him of any wrongdoing due to "insufficient evidence," and he has said that the accusations against him were politically motivated.