Engineer Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Dughaither, a member of the board of directors of Al-Nassr and the CEO of Zain Saudi Arabia, passed away early today. Zain Saudi Arabia expressed its condolences through the chairman and board members, praying for him to be granted mercy and a place in paradise, and for his family to be endowed with patience and solace. The board of directors of Al-Nassr also mourned their fellow board member, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Dughaither, offering prayers for his mercy and rest in paradise. Zain Saudi Arabia stated that a prayer for the deceased will take place at Al-Rajhi Mosque in Eastern Riyadh after the Asr prayer today, with his burial to follow in Al-Naseem Cemetery.
**About Al-Dughaither**
The late Sultan held the position of CEO at the Saudi mobile telecommunications company "Zain Saudi Arabia," and served as the vice chairman and managing director of Tamam Finance Company, as well as the chairman of PLAYHERA MENA for eSports. Al-Dughaither had a distinguished career filled with accomplishments and experience in executive, operational, and technical management spanning 19 years. He led numerous projects that enabled Zain Saudi Arabia to become the leading and preferred telecommunications company in the Kingdom.
He successfully achieved financial and operational transformation for Zain Saudi Arabia, managing to double the company’s market value and eliminate over 2 billion riyals in accumulated losses, allowing the company to distribute profits for the first time in its history after achieving record revenues and profits, placing it among the top 50 brands in terms of market value in Saudi Arabia. He played a pivotal role in developing and expanding the company’s networks within the Kingdom. Under his leadership, Zain Saudi Arabia successfully launched the largest 5G network in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa in 2019, and the fourth largest in the world.
Al-Dughaither crafted a clear vision for the business sector in Zain Saudi Arabia, which saw significant advancement driven by qualitative investments in innovative technologies and digital solutions and services, ranging from cloud computing to future 5G applications, including the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and drones. He managed the transformation of Zain Saudi Arabia from a telecommunications company to an integrated digital services ecosystem, which became a foundation for the emergence and growth of many new tech sectors in the Kingdom.
In 2022, he led the strategic partnership between Zain Saudi Arabia and PLAYHERA Global for eSports, resulting in the establishment of PLAYHERA MENA. He utilized the experiences gained throughout his career to advance the fintech sector in the Kingdom, launching Tamam Finance as the first micro-finance company in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. He oversaw its expansion and operational plans, achieving record profits in a short period.
Al-Dughaither’s leadership vision was characterized by applying values of diversity and inclusion at Zain Saudi Arabia, where the company under his leadership empowered Saudi women in leadership positions and significantly enhanced their presence in the tech and telecommunications sectors. Under his guidance, Zain Saudi Arabia excelled in various sustainability initiatives; in 2023, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the company signed an agreement with the Partner Program Center to launch ultra-scale data centers and also launched the world's first carbon-neutral 5G network at Six Senses Southern Dunes Resort in the Red Sea destination. Al-Dughaither was ranked among the top 300 CEOs according to MENA TRNDS and held a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
