Riad Seif (Arabic: رياض سيف‎; born 25 November 1946) is Syrian political dissident, formerly a member of the Parliament of Syria and prominent businessman, who founded and lead the Forum for National Dialogue. Seif was elected to parliament in 1994 as an independent and again in 1998. For many years held the Adidas franchise in Damascus.

According to Seif, his career in industry started with "a workshop for manufacturing shirts in 1963." In 1993, he began "building the New Adidas Company in 1993 ... the first of its kind in Syria", after acquiring a franchise for Syria from the Adidas Corporation.

Rami Makhlouf (Arabic: رامي مخلوف‎, born 10 July 1969) is a wealthy Syrian businessman and the maternal cousin of President Bashar Assad. He is the main owner of Syriatel and according to the Financial Times he is thought to control as much as 60% of the Syrian economy through his web of business interests that include telecommunications, oil and gas, construction, banking, airlines and retail. He is considered one of the most powerful men in Syria and according to Syrian analysts no foreign company can do business in Syria without his consent and partnership. He is a part of Bashar Assad's inner circle.

Rami Makhlouf is one of the wealthiest individuals in Syria and the cousin of Bashar Assad. He is related to the Assad family through his aunt Anisa Makhlouf who is the wife of former Syrian President Hafez Assad. His personal wealth was estimated in 2008 to be about $6 billion dollars. He is the main owner of Syriatel which is one of the two licensed mobile phone company's in Syria. Besides owning Syriatel, he is involved in real estate, banking, free trade zones along the border with Lebanon, duty-free shops, and luxury department stores. According to the Financial Times, he is thought to control as much as 60% of the Syrian economy through his web of business interests,