At The Kanoo Group's Annual Iftar, One Family Gathers in the Warmth of Ramadan
Under Dubai’s open skies, Chairman Mishal Kanoo joins hundreds of employees and their families to mark Ramadan — in a tradition that puts people before hierarchy.
There is a moment, just after sunset on the outdoor pool deck of the JW Marriott Marquis, when the Burj Khalifa lights up the sky and hundreds of people sit down to break their fast together. Titles disappear. The executive and the newest hire share the same table. That is The Kanoo Group’s annual Iftar — and for many who attend.
On February 27, 2026, The Kanoo Group held its annual Iftar gathering at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, bringing together staff from across the conglomerate’s divisions throughout the UAE, along with their families, senior management, and divisional heads.
“The Kanoo Group was built by a family, and it has always been sustained by one. Not just by those of us who share a surname — but by every person in this room, and their families, who have chosen to be part of something larger than themselves. Ramadan reminds us why we do this. It strips everything back and asks: who are the people beside you? Tonight, the answer is clear. We are family.”
— Mishal Kanoo, Chairman, The Kanoo Group
Mishal Kanoo, accompanied by his son, took his place at the gathering, and the evening unfolded naturally around him. Senior executives and new recruits alike, drawn from the Group’s many divisions and industries, made their way to him. They came to offer Ramadan greetings, to shake his hand, to share a word. It was unhurried and unscripted. And in that simplicity, it said something about the kind of leader he is: one people come to willingly, not because protocol demands it, but because they genuinely want to.
The Kanoo Group’s Iftar — where colleagues become guests, and guests become family — embodies that spirit in its simplest and most genuine form.
For a company that traces its roots back over by decades, gatherings like this one are not ceremonial. They are the living proof that a business can grow large without losing its soul. In blessings, in conversation, and in the shared act of breaking bread, The Kanoo Group does what few organizations of its size still can: it comes home.
