Ronaldo Mouchawar
Ronaldo Mouchawar | |
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Born | Aleppo, Syria |
Nationality | Syrian |
Education | bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and master's degree in Digital Communication |
Alma mater | Northeastern University |
Occupation | VP of Amazon MENA |
Known for | Souq.com |
Ronaldo Mouchawar (Arabic: رونالدو مشحور), is a Syrian entrepreneur. In 2005, he co-founded Souq.com, the largest e-commerce retailer in the Arab World, making the e-commerce retailer the region's first unicorn.[1] When Amazon acquired Souq in 2017, Mouchewar became vice president of Amazon Middle East and North Africa.[2] He is a veteran of Maktoob, the internet portal that was purchased by Yahoo in 2009.
Early life and education
Ronaldo Mouchawar was born in Aleppo, in Syria. His father was a merchant, and this provided the inspiration for the name of the e-commerce site.[3] Mouchawar is also a former basketball player of the Jalaa SC Aleppo.[4]
Mouchawar holds a master's degree in digital communications and a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.[5] He spent the early years of his career with the Boston engineering firm working in technology and business management, including a role as a technical and systems consultant at Electronic Data Systems (EDS).[6]
Career
Mouchawar co-founded Souq.com in 2005 alongside Jabbar, Internet Group's Samih Toukan, and Hussam Khoury.[7] He added products from fashion to electronics and homeware and the site became the largest e-commerce retailer in the Arab world.[8]
'White Friday'
In 2014, he established the White Friday sales event to coincide with Black Friday in the US, explaining that a "black" Friday didn't make cultural sense in the Arab world, since Friday is the traditional day of prayer.[9] The sale was widely popular as it raised over $275 million.[10] In 2015 Souq.com more than doubled its sales during its second White Friday sale, with 13 million visitors and 600,000 items sold between 25–28 November across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.[11] Additionally it was involved in the exclusive release of the Huawei Honor 6 launch in Abu Dhabi.[12]
Funding and Amazon acquisition
In February 2016, Souq.com announced it had received $275m of funding, with a valuation above $1bn, the Arab world's largest ever funding deal.[13] In March 2017, it was made public that Amazon would be acquiring Souq.com.[14] The sum of this deal was not initially disclosed, though an Amazon SEC filing later revealed that the total sum paid was $580m in cash.[15][16] Today Mouchawar serves as VP of Amazon MENA.[17]
Awards
Ronaldo Mouchawar has received several professional awards both in UAE and overseas.
- 2013: Gulf Business Industry Awards, CEO of the year in the IT/Technology category[18]
- 2015: Entrepreneur of the Year award (Retail)[19]
See also
- v
- t
- e
- Ancient City of Aleppo
- Citadel of Aleppo
- Al-Madina Souq
- Al-Jdayde quarter
- Central Synagogue of Aleppo
- Al-Shibani building
- Hammam Bab al-Ahmar
- Hammam al-Nahhasin
- Hammam Yalbugha
- Khanqah al-Farafira
- Bimaristan Arghun al-Kamili
- Beit Junblatt
- Beit Ghazaleh
- Beit Achiqbash
- Bab al-Faraj Clock Tower
- Baron Hotel
- Aleppo railway station
- Villa Rose
- Grand Serail of Aleppo
Historic | |
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Modern |
Historic | |||||||||
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Modern |
|
- Bab al-Hadid
- Bab al-Ahmar
- Bab al-Nairab
- Bab al-Maqam
- Bab Qinnasrin
- Bab Antakeya
- Bab al-Jinan
- Bab al-Faraj
- Bab al-Nasr
education
- Aleppo Citadel Amphitheatre
- Aleppo Citadel Museum
- National Library of Aleppo
- National Museum of Aleppo
- Aleppo Centre for Culture and Arts
- University of Aleppo
- Mamoun University for Science and Technology
- Al-Shahba University
- Aleppo College
- École Amal
- International School of Aleppo
- Lycée français d'Alep
- Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi
- Al-Ma'arri
- Buhturi
- Harut Sassounian
- Hilarion Capucci
- Ibrahim Hananu
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Joseph Safra
- Levon Ter-Petrossian
- Louay Kayali
- Moustapha Akkad
- Mustafa Bey Barmada
- Nazim al-Kudsi
- Qustaki al-Himsi
- Ronaldo Mouchawar
- Rushdi al-Kikhya
- Omar Abu-Riche
- Paul of Aleppo
- Qustaki al-Himsi
- Saadallah al-Jabiri
- Sabah Fakhri
- Saint Maron
- Simeon Stylites
Venues | |
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Clubs |
- Rulers of Aleppo
- Kingdom of Armi
- Yamhad
- Palistin
- Bit Agusi
- Aleppo soap
- Dead Cities
- Siege of Aleppo (637)
- Aleppo Codex
- Hamdanids
- Mirdasids
- Zengids
- 1138 Aleppo earthquake
- Siege of Aleppo (1260)
- Battle of Marj Dabiq
- Aleppo Eyalet
- Levant Company
- Massacre of Aleppo (1850)
- Aleppo Vilayet
- Qudud Halabiya
- Baghdad Railway
- Aleppo International Airport
- State of Aleppo
- People's Party
- 1947 Aleppo pogrom
- Chemins de Fer Syriens
- Aleppo Artillery School massacre
- Siege of Aleppo (1980)
- Battle of Aleppo
References
- ^ "The Middle East's First Unicorn: Souq.com's CEO On Leadership, Timing And Coping With Rejection". Forbes Middle East. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ^ "Amazon contributes to one million meals across the Arab World this Ramadan". ITP Media Group. 20 April 2021.
- ^ "Ronaldo Mouchawar: How I created Souq.com". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ استثمارات رجال الأعمال السوريين في الخارج أرقام ضخمة .. ومشاريع كبيرة
- ^ Fida Chaaban (17 April 2016). "Follow The Leader: Ronaldo Mouchawar, Founder And CEO, Souq". Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Profile of Souq.com CEO Ronaldo Mouchawar". Africa-me.com. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Ronaldo Mouchawar: How I created Souq.com". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Amazon.ae relates running a regional e-commerce giant to basketball". euronews. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ Deborah Amos Facebook Twitter. "A Syrian Entrepreneur Looks To Build The Amazon Of The Arab World : Parallels". NPR. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
{{cite web}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - ^ "Souq raises MENA's largest round of $275M". Wamda.com. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ "Souq.com sales 'double during White Friday'". ArabianBusiness.com. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ Chaaban, Fida (21 September 2015). "Follow The Leader: Ronaldo Mouchawar, Founder And CEO, Souq". Entrepreneur Middle East.
- ^ "Souq.com raises more than AED 1 Billion (USD 275 million), the largest e-commerce funding in the Middle East history - Souq.com (news)". Pr.souq.com. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- ^ Khalil, Ali. "Amazon buys Middle East's biggest online retailer". Times of Israel. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Khalil, Ali. "Amazon buys Middle East's biggest online retailer". Times of Israel. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ "SEC Filing - Amazon.com (Form 10Q; Q1 '17)". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
- ^ Nada El Sawy (1 May 2019). "Souq becomes Amazon.ae in the UAE". The National. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ^ REVEALED: The Gulf Business Industry Awards Winners 2013 Gulf Business
- ^ Nagraj, Aarti (9 September 2015). "Revealed: Winners At The Gulf Business Industry Awards 2015". Gulf Business. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
Further reading
- Amazon to acquire Souq, a Middle East clone once valued at $1B, for $650M (TechCrunch)