Early Life
Taha Mikati was born in 1944 in Tripoli, Lebanon, into a Sunni Muslim family. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the American University of Beirut.
Rise to Success
In 1979, during the Lebanese Civil War, Taha co-founded Arabian Construction Company (ACC). In 1982, he co-founded Investcom with his brother Najib, selling satellite phones and expanding into telecommunications infrastructure across Africa and the Middle East. Investcom went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2005. They later established the Beirut-based M1 Group holding company. Mikati's personal fortune derived primarily from these telecom ventures following Investcom's $5.5 billion sale to MTN in 2005.
Key Business Strategies
Mikati and his brother focused on expanding their telecommunications business across Africa and the Middle East. They also diversified their investments through the M1 Group into real estate, fashion retail, and other sectors. Key moves included acquiring a majority stake in the Spanish fashion retailer Pepe Jeans in 2015, diversifying revenue streams beyond telecom dependencies, and building real estate portfolios in New York, London, and Dubai.
Philanthropy
Taha Mikati co-founded the Azm wa Saade Association in April 1988 with his brother Najib Mikati. He also co-established the Mikati Foundation, which directs resources toward welfare improvement in developing regions, with emphasis on the Arab world and Africa.
