CEO of the Week: FIVE Holdings Founder Kabir Mulchandani

FIVE Holdings Group, formerly recognized as SKAI Holdings, is a Dubai-based entity specializing in the development of luxury hotels and real estate.

The company’s primary focus is on constructing upscale hotels and property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. One of its most distinguished ventures is the Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village, which offers high-end residential units and a Viceroy-branded hotel. 

Moreover, the company has expanded its portfolio by investing in additional commercial and residential real estate projects.

The founder and Chairman of this successful venture is 52-year old Kabir Mulchandani, an Indian-born, Dubai-based real estate and hospitality businessman and philanthropist.

Who is Kabir Mulchandani?

1. Kabir Mulchandani was born and brought-up in Mumbai, India
2. He completed his graduation in industrial engineering from Stanford University, in the United States in 1993, prior to that he attended the elite Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai
3. Soon after graduation, he worked for Baron International and Baron Electronics, two family-owned companies that were focused on the distribution and sale of consumer goods in Mumbai
4. In 2009, Kabir Mulchandani was arrested in Dubai for real estate fraud, and was later acquitted of all charges in 2010
5. In 2011, he founded SKAI Holdings, which completed building the $1.17 billion Palm Jumeirah Dubai hotel with 477 rooms and 221 residences. This project was consider as his comeback in the real-estate industry
6. In 2017, he changed his company’s name from SKAI to FIVE, symbolized by the Roman numeral number ‘V’
7. The same year, Mulchandani won Philanthropist of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards
8. In 2021, he purchased the first ACJ TwoTwenty from Airbus and Comlux Group in Switzerland
9. In 2023, his company became the first and only hotel in the UAE to obtain International Renewable Energy Certificate
10. According to Forbes, as of January 2025, Kabir Mulchandani has a net worth of 220 crores USD