Ibrahim Al-Moallem

An Egyptian engineer, businessman and publisher, Ibrahim Al-Moallem is the founder and chairman of Shorouk Group, which owns Al-Shorouk newspaper. Al-Moallem founded Al-Shorouk newspaper and Al-Shorouk Portal in 2008 with the support of Egyptian businessman Ahmad Heikal, the largest shareholder in the Qalaa Holding. Al-Moallem is also the chairman of Dar Al-Shorouk, the world’s leading Arabic publisher and distributor, a position he took over from his father, the well-known publisher Mohammed Al-Moallem.  

In 1996, Ibrahim Al-Moallem was the first Arab to be elected as a member of the Executive Committee and the Freedom to Publish Committee of the International Publishers Association. He was also elected as the head of the Egyptian Publishers Association and the President of the Arab Publishers Association (APA) until 2007. In October 2008, he became the Vice-President of the International Publishers Association. After the 2011 revolution, Ibrahim Al-Moallem bought the Egyptian Al Tahrir TV Channel, which was owned at the time by the famous journalist and media professional Ibrahim Eissa. But this experience was short lived and he sold the channel to the Egyptian businessman and owner of Sulaymanyah Resorts, Suleiman Amer, in 2012.

Ibrahim Al-Moallem was known for his constant attempts to get close to Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of former President Hosni Mubarak.  He was commissioned to print the “Reading for All Festival”, a national project supervised by Suzanne Mubarak herself.  In addition to the publishing and media businesses, Al-Moallem gained much of his popularity through sports. He was a board member of Egypt most popular club Al-Ahli Club and a member of the "Committee of Wise Men". 

Al-Moallem receives criticism from journalists linked to the current authority, because of his relation to the Muslim brotherhood. He also participated in the national dialogue sessions during the era of former president Morsi.