A passion for adventure - saad al barrak

Saad al Barrak's approach to business comes from the souks of his native

Kuwait and is also shaped by an American and British education, by occupation and war, and by his own warmth and leadership style.

In just seven years, from 2002 to 2009, he transformed a moribund, ex-state-owned Kuwaiti telecoms operator with a base of 500,000 customers, into the international telecom giant Zain, with over 72 million customers across 23 countries. Over the same period, revenues leapt from $570m to a staggering $8 billion.

Saad al Barrak's entrepreneurial taste for risk and his understanding of emerging markets led him - in a single breath-taking takeover - to expand into sub-Saharan Africa, where other

CEOs were afraid to invest.

His respect for the human dimension in business dealings shines through in this insightful and entertaining book, written with the support of former Financial Times Middle East correspondent, Gareth Smyth.