Ayman Hariri
Ayman Rafic Hariri | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1978 Saudi Arabia |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, CEO |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Known for | CEO and co-founder of Vero; former deputy CEO of Saudi Oger |
Ayman Rafic Hariri (أيمن الحريري; born 16 May 1978) is a Lebanese billionaire entrepreneur and the second-youngest offspring of the magnate Rafic Hariri. He serves as the CEO and co-founder of the social networking platform Vero and formerly held the position of deputy CEO at Saudi Oger.
Early life
Hariri was born in Saudi Arabia but moved to Lebanon, his father's homeland, when he was two years old. At the age of 12, he relocated to Paris to continue his education. Following the footsteps of his half-brothers Bahaa, Saad, and Houssam, who were educated in the United States, he enrolled at Georgetown University, earning a bachelor's degree in computer science in 1999.
His half-brother Houssam tragically died in a car accident.
Career
During his time at Georgetown, Hariri gained experience as a programming intern at Intelsat. After graduating, he partnered with Scott Birnbaum to establish Epok in 2001. Epok developed a distributed software platform designed to facilitate secure, cross-network collaboration among enterprises, with a strong emphasis on data privacy.
Following the assassination of his father in 2005, Hariri returned to Saudi Arabia to assist with the family’s business interests. He took on roles as deputy CEO and deputy chairman of Saudi Oger, a prominent construction firm based in Riyadh. His responsibilities included overseeing major projects such as KAUST, Princess Noura University in Riyadh, and the Ritz Carlton Riyadh, among various other public infrastructure developments.
Hariri departed from Saudi Oger in 2013 and completed his divestment by 2016. In 2015, he introduced Vero, an advertising-free social media platform that had been in development for several years. By early 2018, Vero was nearing 3 million users and attracting considerable media coverage.
As reported in February 2018 by Forbes, Hariri’s estimated net worth was approximately US$1.33 billion.
Saudi Oger
In February 2018, the rapid growth of Hariri’s social media venture Vero coincided with increased scrutiny related to Saudi Oger’s failure to compensate migrant workers during 2016. Media accounts revealed financial difficulties faced by Saudi Oger, including attempts to obtain a payment freeze on $3.5 billion in domestic bank loans. Although Vero stated that Hariri resigned from his roles as deputy CEO and deputy chairman at Saudi Oger in 2013, some reports suggested he maintained these positions until as late as 2016, including references within Vero’s own press materials.
Russia
In February 2018, Vero encountered criticism over its employment of Russian software developers. A company representative informed Time that Vero recruits talent globally—spanning the US, Russia, UK, Europe, and Africa—similar to many international technology firms, dismissing concerns about reliability as baseless.
Personal life
Hariri is married and has three children. After previously residing in Paris, he currently lives with his family in Dubai. Additionally, he is recognized for his rare comic book collection named The Impossible Collection, which was showcased in London during the launch event for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016.