Majid Jafar

Jafar was born in Sharjah. He is the grandson of Dhia Jafar, an Iraqi politician who served as a cabinet minister during the monarchy of King Faisal II.^[7][8]

He attended Eton College in the United Kingdom before studying engineering at Churchill College, Cambridge, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.^[9][10][11]

Jafar began his career at Shell International in London, working in its global liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations.^[12] He joined the family business, Crescent Petroleum, in 2004 and later became its chief executive officer.^[13][14] He has participated in discussions on energy policy and economic development through roles with organizations such as the World Economic Forum, where he co-chaired the Middle East and North Africa Summit in 2017.^[15][16]

Jafar has also been a board member of Dana Gas since 2005 and serves as its managing director^[5] Dana Gas is a publicly listed natural gas company.^[17]

He holds advisory or governance positions with institutions such as the International Energy Agency,^[18] Chatham House,^[19] and the Atlantic Council.^[20]

In 2015, Jafar and his wife co-founded the Loulou Foundation, a non-profit organization.^[21][22] The foundation funds global research and convenes an annual forum on the disorder.^[23][24]

Jafar also serves on the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School.^[25]

Jafar is married to Lynn Barghout Jafar.^[26][27]

• 2013 – Named Visionary of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards.^[28][29]
• 2017 – Selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.^[30]
• 2021 – Listed among Arabian Business’s 100 Inspiring Leaders in the Middle East and Dubai 100. ^[31]
• 2024 & 2025 – Included in Forbes Middle East’s Sustainable 100 list.^[32][33]
• 2025 – included in Arabian Business’s list of the 150 Most Influential Arabs.^[34]
• 2025 – Received an honorary doctorate from UMass Chan Medical School.^[35]

• Crescent Petroleum
• Dana Gas