Last night, it was revealed that rapper French Montana had become engaged to a princess of Dubai named Sheikha Mahra. Sheikha Mahra is one of an estimated 26 children fathered by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai. FYI, in an early draft of this article, I eroneously referred to Sheikh Mohammed as the “King of Dubai.” That title is not correct. His three official titles are “Ruler of Dubai,” “Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates,” and “Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.”
If I’m being honest, I’ve never really been clear on the difference between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Dubai. Is there a difference? Is the UAE a country or is Dubai a country? I think the UAE is made up of a few countries? Possibly a bunch of island countries? Is it a bunch of island countries that have formed one big country? Dubai is an island, right? Jeesh, I’m such a dumb American.
I finally just looked it up and was impressed to learn that NO, the UAE is not a bunch of islands. The United Arab Emirates is a contiguous land mass roughly six times the size of New York City, located on the Persian Gulf bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Most interestingly of all, I learned that the UAE is actually kind of like an umbrella organization of other countries. You know how there are five “boroughs” in New York City? Imagine if each of those boroughs was a country and if they were all “managed” by the umbrella organization known as “New York City.” Now replace “borough” with “emirate” and instead of five, there are seven. Those seven emirate countries are:
- Abu Dhabi
- Ajman
- Dubai
- Fujairah
- Ras Al Khaimah
- Sharjah
- Umm Al Quwain
I’ll admit that, before today, I had never heard of five of the above seven emirates. Also, if you’re assuming that all seven of these UAE countries are drowning in unimaginable wealth, that’s not actually true. Abu Dhabi also hit the jackpot and actually controls over 90% of the UAE’s oil reserves. That’s why the ruler of Abu Dhabi (currently Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan) is also President of the UAE. But the other five UAE countries? Snake eyes. The northern emirates (Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, and Sharjah) either had tiny reserves or none at all, with Sharjah the partial exception thanks to modest gas fields. Today, these emirates rely heavily on federal subsidies from Abu Dhabi and alternative industries like shipping, manufacturing, and tourism to sustain themselves.
Technically, the UAE is a federation of semi-autonomous states, and each emirate is governed by its own Sheikh. Those seven Sheikhs form the Federal Supreme Council of the UAE. The council is the highest constitutional authority in the country, responsible for setting national policy, passing laws, and overseeing shared institutions such as the armed forces, foreign affairs, and federal taxes. While each emirate retains control over its local resources and many domestic matters, defense, security, and international relations are handled at the federal level. The council elects one of its members to serve as President of the UAE for a five-year term, a role that has traditionally been held by the ruler of Abu Dhabi. The Vice President, usually the ruler of Dubai, is also chosen from among the Sheikhs.
The current Sheikh of Dubai is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He also serves as the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense of the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikh Mohammed is the third son of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who ruled Dubai from 1958 until his death in 1990. Roughly eight years into Rashid’s reign, the discovery of oil transformed Dubai almost overnight from a modest desert port into one of the wealthiest territories in the world, measured by natural resource reserves and GDP.
But Sheikh Mohammed’s wealth and Dubai’s prosperity have not relied on oil alone. Over the decades, the Al Maktoum family has strategically reinvested billions of dollars of oil revenue into global businesses, with a particular focus on real estate. Today, Sheikh Mohammed is among the largest private landowners in the United Kingdom. He also wields enormous financial influence through his near-total ownership of Dubai Holding, the state-backed conglomerate that manages tens of billions of dollars in assets worldwide. Independent estimates place Dubai Holding’s portfolio between $30 billion and $70 billion, spanning real estate, hospitality, media, and international investments.
Sheikh Mohammed has spearheaded the following development projects within Dubai:
- The Burj Khalifa – AKA the tallest building in the world
- The Burj Al Arab
- Palm Island
- Dubai Internet City
- Dubai World
- The Jumeirah Beach Hotel
- The Dubai Airshow
He also launched Emirates Airlines back in 1984 with an initial $10 million investment. Another $75 million was invested over the next few years. Today, the airline claims that it no longer receives any government subsidies and operates independently as one of the world’s leading (and most luxurious) airlines.
When you put it all together, we estimate that Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s net worth is $16 billion. That makes him the richest person in Dubai and one of the top three richest Sheikhs in the United Arab Emirates. The only people richer are the two leaders of Abu Dhabi.
(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Princess Haya
Unfortunately, Sheikh Mohammed’s personal life has been a bit more controversial in recent years.
As of this writing, Sheikh Mohammed has at least 20 and possibly as many as 30 children from roughly a dozen wives. His most recent wife is Princess Haya bint Hussein. Haya was royalty herself, even before her marriage to Sheikh Mohammed. She is the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, making the current King Abdulla II of Jordan, her half-brother, and Queen Rania, her half-sister-in-law.
Princess Haya and Sheikh Mohammed married on April 10, 2004. They divorced in February 2019.
One month after the divorce, Princess Haya took the couple’s two children and fled to the United Kingdom. She claims that she decided to flee after being told that there was a loaded gun in her bedroom and that a royal helicopter had been dispatched to transport her to prison. The implication being that she was being encouraged to kill herself.
In May 2019, Sheikh Mohammed sued Haya seeking a court order to have their children returned to Dubai. In response, Haya brought forth evidence which alleged to show that Sheikh Mohammed had two daughters from a previous marriage kidnapped and returned to Dubai against their will after they attempted to flee. One of those daughters, Princess Latifa, was allegedly abducted off the coast of India in 2017 after commandos intercepted a yacht she was traveling on. The other daughter, Princess Shamsa, was allegedly abducted from England in 2000.
The court battle that followed produced one of the most expensive divorce cases in British history. Court filings revealed the extraordinary lifestyle the couple and their children enjoyed before the split. Here are some of the highlights:
- Spent £2 million on strawberries in a single summer
- Children each received £10 million per year in allowances
- Traveled aboard a custom-fitted Boeing 747
- Supported by a staff of nearly 80 household employees
- Access to a $400 million superyacht
- Lived in palaces worth hundreds of millions of dollars
Against that backdrop, the judge noted that the case involved a “truly opulent and unprecedented standard of living” that took it “entirely out of the ordinary.” After nearly $100 million in legal fees, a judge ordered Sheikh Mohammed to pay Princess Haya a settlement of…
$735 million
That’s roughly 5% of Sheikh Mohammed’s net worth. It is the largest divorce settlement in British history, but it was actually only half of the $1.4 billion Princess Haya had been seeking. The previous record for the largest UK divorce settlement belonged to Farkhad Akhmedov, who reportedly paid his ex-wife $600 million in 2016.
The award included a one-time lump sum of $330 million, a $384 million HSBC bank guarantee for the children, annual maintenance payments of $15 million, $4 million for education, $10 million in back payments, and full security coverage for the family.
