Accordingly Thrissur native and founder of LuLu group, MA Yusuff Ali, is now the richest Malayali in the world, according to the Forbes Billionaires list for 2019. Meanwhile with an estimated personal wealth of 4.8 billion dollars, Yusuff Ali, also known as the 'Retail King of the Middle East' ranks 394 in the list of the worlds richest. Reportedly Yusuff was the 26th wealthiest Indian in the world in 2018.

Meanwhile at age 16 and with barely any money on him, Yusuff Ali migrated to Abu Dhabi in 1973 to help his uncle in his small time distribution business. Furthermore by the 1990s, Ali expanded the import and wholesale distribution arms of the company and ventured into the supermarket business, starting the LuLu hypermarket. Further Ali opened the chain at the height of the Gulf War and yet made it a hugely successful venture and soon enough he opened up LuLu stores in other regions of the Middle East.

Presently the LuLu Group International runs a chain of businesses with an annual turnover of over 8.1 billion dollars. Apparently Ali's son-in-law Shamseer Vayalil runs LuLu's healthcare businesses. Forbes notes that Yusuff Ali has also been investing in a big way back home in Kerala and also has a sizeable stake in the Cochin International Airport Ltd. which runs and operates the Kochi airport. Earlier in 2013, he built the LuLu International Shopping Mall in Kochi, Kerala and in 2016, he purchased the Scotland Yard Police Station building in Whitehall, London for 170 million dollars and the building is now a luxury hotel.

Moreover the Kerala floods, Ali donated 2.6 million dollars for relief and rehabilitation and are also rumored to have brokered talks with the UAE royal family to donate 7 million dollars as aid to Kerala, which later fell through after the Centre declined the help and the UAE government subsequently denied having extended any aid.