Badr Jafar

Badr Jafar (Arabic: بدر حميد جعفر‎; born 1979) is an Emirati businessperson and Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy for the United Arab Emirates. He is the chief executive officer of Crescent Enterprises, a UAE-based conglomerate.

Early life and education Badr Jafar was born and raised in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 1994, he studied at Eton College and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a master’s degree in engineering and additional studies in astrophysics. Jafar subsequently attended the Cambridge Judge Business School. the American University of Beirut, the American University of Sharjah, and a member of the board of trustees of Zayed University. He is a foundation fellow of Eton College and holds an Honorary Fellowship from London Business School.

Career Jafar is the chief executive officer of Crescent Enterprises, a UAE-based conglomerate. He is the president of Crescent Enterprises’ sister company Crescent Petroleum, chairman of Pearl Petroleum, which develops natural gas assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and chairman of the executive board of the port and logistics operator Gulftainer.

In 2011, Jafar was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He also serves as the chairman of Endeavor UAE and is an advisory board member of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) and Gaza Sky Geeks.

In 2015, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, and was subsequently appointed to UNESCO’s Futures of Education International Commission.

He served as the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) Special Representative for Business and Philanthropy and chaired the inaugural COP28 Business & Philanthropy Forum.

In May 2024, he was awarded the Order of Zayed by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Other activities Jafar is the founder of the Pearl Initiative, a non-profit organization launched in 2010 at the United Nations, which promotes corporate governance across the countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In 2011, he partnered with music producer Quincy Jones to create Global Gumbo Group to develop music and arts ventures in the Middle East. The group launched Dubai Music Week in 2013. They produced a charity single titled Tomorrow/Bokra (Arabic: بكرا) to raise funds for educational arts projects for displaced youth in the Middle East.

In 2011, Jafar launched the Middle East Theatre Academy (META), a non-profit theatre academy to discover talent from marginalized communities in the region.

In 2014, Jafar launched the Arab World Social Entrepreneurship Program in partnership with Ashoka. In the same year, the Kennedy Centre honored him with a gold medal in the Arts.

He is on the board of advisors of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Middle East Institute, and the board of directors of the International Peace Institute.

In 2018, Jafar and his wife joined The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative launched by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. He is also the Founding Patron of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy based at the University of Cambridge.

In 2021, Jafar announced the launch of the Strategic Philanthropy Initiative at New York University Abu Dhabi. In 2025, Jafar was recognized by Time on the inaugural Time 100 Philanthropy list.