Success Stories of Entrepreneurs in the UAE

• Youngest self-made Gulf billionaire (2017)
• #27 in the Global 40 under 40, Self-made Rich List (2017)
• ‘Winning Warrior’, Bloomberg Television (2010)
• Asia's Best Entrepreneurs Under 25, BusinessWeek Magazine (2006)

Divyank Turakhia founded ad-tech start-up Media.net, in Dubai Internet City in 2010, which went on to become one of the top 5 largest advertising technology companies worldwide. By revenue, it is the second-largest contextual advertising business globally.

Born in India, Turakhia started learning coding at the age of eight and used to provide freelance internet consulting for large corporates when he was just 14. He co-founded Directi, a company that provides web hosting services, when he was still in high school. The serial entrepreneur has accomplished numerous feats since then, and went on to become a billionaire at the age of 34, as he struck the world’s third largest ad-tech deal of $900 million for Media.net, with a Chinese consortium.

In 2016, during the Media.net deal, Turakhia met HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai. “Dubai has become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East. We are witnessing the prominent role of Dubai Internet City in creating new economies and nurturing global entrepreneurs,” Sheikh Mohammed said during the occasion.