Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Landmark Group announced the death of its billionaire founder, Mukesh “Micky” Jagtiani, on Friday morning in Dubai. Mickey was the driving force behind the journey of growth and prosperity that the Landmark Group has embarked on in the region since its establishment in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1973.

His innovative vision contributed to making the Landmark Group one of the most important brands in the regional retail and hospitality sectors. Today, it has more than 2,200 stores in 21 countries across the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, mourned the death of the founder of the Landmark Group, Micky ‘Mukesh’ Jagtiani, who passed away on Friday.

Sheikh Hamdan described him as one of the most important figures in Dubai’s success stories.

His Highness said on Twitter: “Today, we mourn the loss of Micky Jagtiani, the founder of Landmark Group and a integral part of Dubai’s success story. His philanthropic legacy and contributions to the UAE’s economy and society over the last three decades will be remembered forever. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and the Landmark Group team.”

Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade said, “Extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Micky Jagtiani, a titan of the UAE business scene whose vision, talent and energy transformed the Landmark Group into one of our greatest success stories. Sincere condolences to his family and everyone associated with the Group.”

“Today Dubai lost a man who was a key player in the retail and real estate industry. Micky Jagtiani the founder of Landmark group have passed away,” tweeted Emirati businessman Majid Saif Al Ghurair.

“The Landmark Group today announced that its eminent Founder and Chairman, Mukesh “Micky” Jagtiani, has passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Jagtiani, originally from India, started the business in 1973 with one store in Bahrain and grew the conglomerate across the Middle East, Africa and India.

Micky is known for his exceptional leadership and unwavering approach that focuses on serving customers in the best possible way, along with his deep understanding of the local and regional markets, and his philanthropic work that touched the lives of many people, and his strategic foresight is a solid legacy to lead the group that originated as a family business to become today one of the most prominent commercial establishments in the region.

His family members — his wife Renuka along with his children Aarti and Savitar, Nisha and Kabir, Rahul and his grandchildren Samar, Nikhil, Johan and Aaliya — and the members of the Landmark Group are always proud of Mickey’s achievements and good memories.

Despite its affliction, the Landmark family affirms its commitment to continuing the journey of growth and prosperity and ensuring continued success as its founder has always sought.

Dr. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, said: I am deeply saddened to hear about the demise of stalwart businessman Micky Jagtiani, the Founder of Landmark Group. He was a visionary businessman who built Landmark Group into one of the most successful conglomerates in retail in the MENA region. He was the pioneer who played a significant role in shaping the retail and consumer business segment in the region. Micky had a very generous heart, helping people silently, and his legacy will live forever through his business and philanthropic initiatives. I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family.

Career: Jagtiani graduated in his working life to become, after a journey of struggle, one of the billionaires of the financial and business capital in the Middle East, Dubai, and his wealth is estimated at more than $3.3 billion.

After a period of working in Britain, Jagtiani thought of going to Bahrain, specifically in 1973, to start a new chapter in his life, to open a store specialized in selling children’s toys, to be the first branch of his group, Landmark.

After he succeeded in his first Gulf stations and started establishing new brands that varied between fashion, electronics, furniture, health clinics and hotels, he later became one of the world’s wealthiest.

He set a goal for him to expand to increase the volume of the group’s operations to $5.2 billion and expand its stores to 1,200 by 2015.

From here, Landmark embarked on the path of growth to become a global group in the world of retail in the Gulf countries, the Emirates and Dubai in particular, Jordan, Egypt and India.

It falls under a number of internationally known brands, including Home Center, Centrepoint, Baby Shop, Shoe Mart, Splash, Lifestyle, Beauty Bay, Q Home Decor, Max, Shoe Express, E-Max, and many branches of international brands such as New Look, Aftershock, Cotton and more.