Lebanese tycoon Najib Mikati a former prime minister, has a reputation as a moderate who enjoys good ties with neighboring Syria, Lebanon’s former power-broker that is steadily regaining its influence.

Najib Mikati

Fifty-five-year-old Mikati first broke into the local political scene in 1998 and was last elected to parliament in 2009..

Mikati, who hails from the Sunni bastion of Tripoli in north Lebanon, was first appointed minister of transport and public works in 1998. In 2000, he beat his fellow Tripoli native former prime minister Omar Karameh in a legislative vote, landing himself a seat in parliament while still serving in government.

The Rafiq Hariri’s assassination in 2005 resulted in a wave of rage among Lebanon’s anti-Syrian communities and sparked mass protests that forced the resignation of Omar Karameh’s Damascus-backed government.

Mikati stepped up and pledged to fire security officials and the public prosecutor in the aftermath of the killing, which secured him the support of Lebanon’s mourning Sunnis.

He formed a slimline 14-member government made up mainly of technocrats. Mikati was succeeded three months later by Fouad Siniora.

Unlike many Lebanese leaders, Mikati, a self-made telecoms billionaire, does not hail from one of the many political dynasties, rendering him a more likely compromise candidate.

Mikati sold his telecoms interests to South Africa’s MTN Group for $5.5 billion in 2006, owns the M1 international investment holding group as well as French fashion line Faconnable, and has major real estate investments.

Forbes magazine in 2010 estimated his net worth at $2.5 billion, making him one of Lebanon’s richest men. He ties for rank 374 on the Forbes list of billionaires with his brother and business partner Taha.

Born on November 24, 1955, Mikati is a graduate of the American University of Beirut’s business school and also studied at the prestigious universities of INSEAD (an international business school) and Harvard.

He is married with three children.