"he has built a multibillion-dollar investment portfolio that includes top hotels such as New York's Essex House and London's Carlton Tower, extensive real estate holdings, and big stakes in international bank HSBC (HBC) and European planemaker EADS. Now he sees opportunity in creating a regional banking and trading hub, hoping to cash in on the trillions of dollars that have flowed to the Gulf in recent years. "If we develop a strong financial market, it will change the region," Ba'alawy says."-BusinessWeek
