Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is one of the most sought‑after people in the Middle East. Money managers and financiers flying into the United Arab Emirates from Hong Kong, London or New York yearn for even a 10-minute meet-and-greet. A lucky few might get to be guests aboard his superyacht, Maryah, where he likes to play chess as the sun glistens on the Persian Gulf. Slim and sporty in his trademark sunglasses, the scion of the world’s richest family oversees state assets and private funds that add up to more than $1.5 trillion. The opportunity to invest even a sliver of that wealth could yield plump fees and returns.
Getting to Sheikh Tahnoon is the rub. Any place in the world where valuable prizes can be won, the right introduction works wonders. In old Chicago ward politics, the line was “We don’t want nobody nobody sent.” In Silicon Valley, the path to wealth runs through the Stanford University admissions committee and venture capital incubator cliques. But the concentration of state and financial power in the UAE makes everything more personal. The sheikh, who’s in his mid-50s, isn’t only his family’s moneyman; he’s one of the deputy rulers of the Abu Dhabi emirate, a brother of the UAE’s president and the son of the country’s founding father. He’s also the national security adviser. In other words, not the sort of person whose front desk you call to ask for an appointment.
One well-trod path to Sheikh Tahnoon and the money he controls runs through Al Maryah Island. The skyscraper-studded community hosts Abu Dhabi’s international financial center, which Sheikh Tahnoon dreamed up two decades ago with guidance from the late US property tycoon Sam Zell. After meeting bankers in the Four Seasons hotel lobby, financiers may be directed to one of the companies the sheikh chairs: the UAE’s largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC; his private investment firm, Royal Group; or the artificial intelligence company G42.
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