The Saadé family traces its mercantile roots to 18th and 19th century levantine landowning, commercial and industrial development with prominent representatives such as Gabriel Saadé (1854 – 1939) and the visionary Rodolphe Saadé (1900 – 1956).

With an initial involvement in commodities’ trading and various industries (Cotton, alcohol and tobacco), the family was drawn into other activities including sea shipping and land transport that were ultimately developed by Johnny R.Saadé, Rodolphe’s son, in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and France where he founded the Compagnie Maritime d’Affrêtement (CMA) in 1978 which eventually became one of the major container shipping companies in the world.

Having divested itself from those activities, other more subtle ventures have also been developed by Johnny R.Saadé, in winemaking, tourism and real estate in various areas of the middle-east and elsewhere including Dubai, Syria and Lebanon.

The family has set-up the Johnny R. Saadé foundation to handle all charitable and philanthropic activities.