Veteran Saudi publisher and media pioneer Mohamed Ali Hafez passed away in Jeddah on Sunday, bringing a landmark career—one that reshaped the landscape of modern journalism across the Middle East and on the global stage—to an end.
Alongside his late brother, Hisham Ali Hafez, he is widely recognised as a foundational architect of the region’s contemporary publishing industry, successfully elevating Saudi media from a domestic footprint to unprecedented international prominence.
Born into a family synonymous with the rise of the Saudi press—his father and uncle have founded Al-Madina newspaper in 1937—Hafez began his career deeply rooted in the profession. Following intensive training at Egypt’s prestigious Akhbar El Yom publishing house under the tutelage of journalism icon Mustafa Amin, he returned to assume the editorship of Al-Madina. At just 25 years old, he made history as the youngest editor-in-chief of a major Saudi newspaper, serving in the position until 1964.
The definitive turning point in Hafez’s career arrived in the mid-1970s with a strategic vision to dismantle the traditional monopoly held by historic Arab capitals over regional media. Relocating operations to London, the Hafez brothers co-founded the Saudi Research and Marketing Group—now known as the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG). Through this corporate vehicle, they launched Arab News, the Kingdom’s first English-language daily, followed closely by Asharq Al-Awsat, the world’s first international Arabic-language newspaper printed and distributed simultaneously across multiple global capitals.
Under his leadership, SRMG grew into the Arab world’s largest integrated media conglomerate, establishing supporting networks in printing, logistics, advertising, and digital technology. While managing this vast media empire, Hafez maintained a lifelong commitment to the craft of writing, engaging audiences for decades through his highly regarded daily column ‘Sabah Al-Khair’ (‘Good Morning’). His pioneering initiatives laid the structural groundwork for SRMG’s modern iteration, which today includes major global partnerships with entities such as Bloomberg and The Independent.
