UAE – The 1 Billion Followers Summit, the world’s first and largest event dedicated to shaping the content creator economy, announced names of the top five content creators shortlisted for the One Billion Award, the $1 million prize deemed the world’s largest and most valuable for content creators.

The top five contenders were selected through public voting, which took place from December 22nd to 28th, 2024, on vote.1billionsummit.com. The voting process received a total of 3.3 million votes from around the world.

The 1 Billion Followers Summit, organized by the UAE Government Media Office, will be hosted in the UAE from 11 to 13 January 2025 at Dubai’s Emirates Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre and the Museum of the Future, under the theme ‘Content for Good’.

Expert panel

The One Billion Award aims to encourage and support creators whose content leaves a positive mark and changes communities for the better, inspires minds, brings nations closer together, and sustains values of compassion and empathy.

The five candidates will now move on to the next stage of the qualifications, with an expert panel of global influencers and consultants selecting the winner during closed sessions on 11 and 12 January 2025. The winner will be announced on the Summit’s closing day, Monday, 13 January 2025.

The panel of judges includes Ahmed ElGhandour and Prajakta Koli, both content creators and ambassadors of the 1 Billion Followers Summit; content creator Zachery Dereniowski; Amine Imnir, who won the Arab Hope Maker 2024 title and Hassan Suleiman, known popularly as AboFlah.

Top 5 candidates

The list of shortlisted candidates includes Mahmoud Zuaiter (Palestine), a content creator from Gaza who creates uplifting content amid Gaza’s hardships to inspire and spread hope. His content helped highlight the conditions in the strip. Zuaiter also contributes to humanitarian aid efforts and highlights social issues to inspire positive change. Zuaiter has around 3 million followers on social media platforms.

The list also includes Nasser Al-Oqail (Saudi Arabia), founder of the "Dupamicaffeine Sciences" channel, where he simplifies complex books and concepts into relatable and actionable insights for his over 9 million followers across social media.

Creators For Lebanon (Lebanon) also made the cut. This is a group of four Lebanese content creators uniting to help displaced families, providing aid, rebuilding communities and inspiring solidarity in times of crisis. The group includes Abdallah Saadeh, Hasan Hashim, Hasan Raad, and Abir Al Saghir, who collectively have over 40 million followers on social media platforms.

Also moving to the next stage is Simon Squibb (UK), an entrepreneur and inspirational speaker who shares personal experiences to help people achieve their dreams. He focuses on motivating future leaders and supports social enterprises addressing global issues. Squibb has over 9 million followers on social media platforms.

Finally, the list of top 5 candidates includes Samuel Weidenhofer (Australia), a social media influencer known for spreading positivity and kindness through heartwarming videos featuring acts of kindness towards strangers, from surprising kids to gifting strangers. He has over 10 million followers on social media platforms.

In just 3 weeks, the One Billion Award has received over 16,000 submissions from content creators representing 190 countries around the world, vying for recognition of their impactful content.

The 1 Billion Followers Summit has outlined the award's eligibility criteria, citing that content should be innovative and original and adhere to the standards and policies of social media platforms and meet established quality and design standards. The content should foster and demonstrate interaction and engagement with a broad audience.

-Ends-

About the 1 Billion Followers Summit Summit

With a goal of reaching over a billion people worldwide, the 1 Billion Followers Summit, the world’s first and largest event dedicated to shaping the content creator economy, organized by the UAE Government Media Office, brings together top global social media influencers across all online platforms. The summit explores how new media can drive positive societal change and fuel sustainable economic growth for nations. It is a key component of the UAE’s to foster a vibrant content creator community. Alongside business support services, and a globally connected, secure multinational environment, the UAE has committed resources and facilities specifically to fostering content creation, including a million-dollar content creator award being announced at the Summit, which takes place from 11 to 13 January 2025.

For more information, please visit www.1billionsummit.com