Mrs. Maha Al- Ghunaim, along with other distinguished members, founded Global Investment House in 1998. She came to Global from Kuwait Foreign Trading Contracting & Investment Co. (KFTCIC), the investment arm of Kuwait Investment Company, which she had joined in 1982 after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from San Francisco State University, California, USA. Mrs. Al Ghunaim was promoted to chairperson of Global in 2007. She sits on the board of numerous companies in the region. Mrs. Al-Ghunaim received notable regional and international recognitions and has been named among the “50 most admired executives in the GCC” (Arabian Business, December 2009) and “Top Financier of the Year” (elan’s Top Entrepreneurs of the Year, December 2009). She was also listed among the "100 Most Influential Women in The City" by Financial News in September 2009 and in Forbes Magazine’s annual listing of “The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World” for 2006 & 2007 & 2008. And among the "100 Most Powerful Arab Women" by Forbes Middle East in 2012.