Othman Al Omeir is a Saudi-born British businessman, journalist and editor. He is considered to be close to King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
Early life and education
Al Omeir was born in Al Zulfi in 1950. His father was a Qutab teacher for a mosque in Al Zulfi. Al Omeir is a graduate of Madinah University.
Journalism
Al Omeir began his career as a junior sports correspondent for Al Jazirah newspaper in Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s. Soon, he became managing editor and London correspondent of the paper. During his London correspondency, he studied the English language, and his tenure lasted until 1983. He then began to serve as editor-in-chief of The Majalla magazine from 1983 to 1987. Next, he became editor-in-chief of Alsharq Alawsat and worked in this post for ten years. Both The Majalla and Alsharq Alawsat are owned by the Saudi Research and Marketing Group. He also worked as the editor-in-chief of Al Yaum and was a member of the board of directors of Al Jazirah. During his journalism career, he made interviews with major world leaders, including George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Jacques Chirac, King Fahd and Gorbachev. On 21 May 2001, he launched the first independent Arabic e-newspaper, Elaph that is based in London. The reason for choosing London as the center of the website was to be free from the censorship rules of Saudi Arabia and also, offer liberal viewpoints, particularly in opposition to religious radicalism. Al Omeir continues his interviews in Elaph. In July 2013 he interviewed Bahraini ruler King Hamad.
Business activities
Al Omeir's business activities are also about media. He established a media company in the United Kingdom, OR Media Limited, in partnership with Abdulrahman Al Rashed. It produces TV programs for Middle East, British and American TV channels. He also acquired the Maroc Soir Group, a major publisher in Casablanca, in March 2004. The group which is the oldest media group in Morocco owns French-daily paper Le Matin, Arabic daily Assahra Al Maghribiya, English news portal moroccotimes.com, and Spanish weekly La Manana. In November 2005, the group also launched a French-language daily, Maroc Soir. In Morocco, he also founded Mena Media Consulting in 2004/2005, a public relations firm. In addition, he is the chairman of the Strategic Communications Group that is a global strategic advisory company based in Dubai, Canada and Singapore.
