Oil still dominates the fortunes of commoners and kings alike in the Middle East. So when oil prices rebounded from last year's lows, the region's rich got richer. So far, the New Economy in the Middle East denotes telecom, since computer and Internet penetration remain low compared with Europe and the U.S. But telecom is sizzling. Egypt's first billionaire, Onsi Sawiris, struck gold at home with wireless phone concessions. Lebanon's Rafik Al-Hariri--eyeing slow growth in construction--is hoping to do the same in South Africa. In Turkey, the billionaire Sahenk and Sabanci families joined to bid for a mobile-phone license but came up short. Also in Turkey, Mehmet Emin Karamehmet and his family--who parachute onto our list at a whopping $8 billion--look set to reap possibly billions more when their Turkcell goes public later this year. Lots for some in the region to talk about. See full list, "Billionaires The Middle East".