The House of Nahyan in Abu Dhabi is as wealthy as the Al-Thani in Qatar or the Al Saud in Saudi Arabia. Multiple sovereign wealth funds, notably Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company, under the leadership of the Al Nahyan family, manage assets worth an estimated $1 trillion. The family may hold 6% of the world’s oil reserves, but they have also made savvy investments in companies as diverse as Rihanna’s lingerie line and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. They are rumored to be a $300 billion dollar family.
With Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MBZ, as president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, the sons of United Arab Emirates founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan are essentially in command of significant swaths of a family wealth. Other than having the world’s tallest structure (the Burj Khalifa) named after you (in honor of Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al Nahyan), what other realities can such vast money create?
The presidential palace of the United Arab Emirates is located in Abu Dhabi, and it is called Qar Al-Waan. The white granite and limestone exterior of the $490 million National Palace makes it one of the top 20 cultural icons in the world.
It opened to the public in 2019, so it’s not new. The 350,000-piece crystal chandelier is the centerpiece of the palace’s grandiose 380,000-square-meter interior.
More than 50,000 volumes about the cultural, social, and political history of the country may be found in the library located in the east wing of the palace. Including some of London’s priciest boroughs, Sheikh Khalifa has an overseas real estate portfolio worth approximately $7 billion. The Duke of Westminster, a 29-year-old millionaire nobleman who owns large swaths of London, has been dubbed “the landlord of London,” with some claiming that his British property empire exceeds the Duke’s.
His extensive collection includes the Time Life building on New Bond Street, as well as properties in affluent neighborhoods including Knightsbridge, Westminster, and Kensington. The Al-Nahyan Empire’s holdings in London were worth more than the whole of the Grosvenor Estates’ holdings in the city by 2015, according to one document. Chateau de Baillon, located north of Paris, is one of the twelve palaces worldwide that the family owns.
These royals don’t just rule the ground; they also rule the skies with their Presidential fleet of eight luxurious planes, which includes the powerful Airbus A320-200 and three Boeing 787-9s. Both the $450 million Boeing 747 and the $180 million Boeing 787 in MBZ’s personal collection can comfortably accommodate the whole royal family in the lap of luxury.
Private jets of this size often have many cabins, ample lounging spaces, conference rooms, entertainment systems, and occasionally even luxurious baths or spas, however the exact layout and contents of his plane have not been made public.
There are a few superyachts that may stop your heart:The wealthy Al Nahyan family has a fleet of world-class luxury yachts that are considered some of their most prized possessions. Members of the royal family of Abu Dhabi possess three of the world’s ten largest yachts—the Azzam, the Blue, and the Topaz, recently renamed A+.
Spending $500,000,000 Built for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the world’s largest superyacht is named Azzam. More than a hundred people may live aboard the 590-foot vessel. A golf simulator, unfathomable quantities of mother-of-pearl, and 4,000 construction workers went into creating the behemoth.
Sheikh Mansour owns the $600 million, 525-foot-long Lurssen A+, making it the world’s fourth-largest yacht. The millionaire is also the owner of the $450 million A+ (previously known as Topaz), which Leonardo Di Caprio has borrowed on two separate occasions. A+ measures in at a whopping 483 feet in length and is packed with luxurious features including a spa, Jacuzzi, steam room, beauty salon, and dance club.
Outside of Paris, they constructed another Louvre.The Western art world has been profoundly influenced by Middle Eastern kings. It’s fair to say that under the leadership of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi has become a thriving cultural center. The Saadiyat Cultural District Museum, which features more than 620 pieces of art, was also constructed.
Louvre Abu Dhabi, the largest art museum on the Arabian peninsula and the only other Louvre outside of Paris, is another must-see. Paintings by Paul Gauguin’s Breton Boys Wrestling (1888) and René Magritte’s The Subjugated Reader (1928), as well as Leonardo da Vinci’s La Belle Ferronnièr (worth $1.5 million), may be found at the museum.
The prospect of the largest of the Guggenheim museums settling into the Saadiyat Island cultural zone bodes quite well for the future of the art world. The Guggenheim’s newest site, designed by Frank Gehry, will be the largest at 320,000 square feet. Its completion is anticipated in the year 2025.
Money invested in everything from sports to stocks to politicsThe Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. After Thaksin Shinawatra resigned as Prime Minister of Thailand, the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister bought the club. City Football Group, which owns many professional soccer teams including Manchester City F.C., Mumbai City F.C., Melbourne City F.C., and New York City F.C., is overwhelmingly owned by ADUG.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is widely regarded as an instrumental figure in expanding Abu Dhabi’s corporate holdings. The Royal Group is the parent company of a swarm of businesses in the fields of banking, food, space, fashion, and robots, employing a total of 27,000. The family is currently the wealthiest of the seven emirates, with assets of approximately $300 billion.
They have a museum just for their automotive collection.The Al Nahyan clan is one of the wealthiest in the world, as seen by their enormous mansions, extravagant vacation properties, and apparently endless fleet of luxury vehicles. Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan al Nahyan has around 700 automobiles, many of which are excessive in size and design. There’s obviously no stopping a man who is worth $20 billion and has an obsession.
His collection includes a 24-ton, 10-wheeled SUV, a 21-foot-tall Willis jeep, and a variety of brightly colored historic American and Mercedes-Benz automobiles. His extensive automotive collection is on display at four different museums in the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, the most famous of which is the pyramid-shaped Emirates National Auto Museum. The 718 automobiles stored here make up the world’s largest collection of 4x4s, earning the owners of these lots a place in the prestigious Guinness Book of World Records.
Sheikh Mansour, 52, is another renowned Emirati prince. He owns Manchester City and has a $22 billion fortune, as well as shares in Ferrari and Daimler AG. His collection of high-end automobiles includes five Bugatti Veyrons, a Ferrari 599XX, a McLaren MC12, a Ferrari F40, a Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, and a Lamborghini Reventón; nonetheless, it is nowhere like as extensive as the Rainbow Sheikh’s.Important: Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are worth $115 billion and $146 billion, respectively, according to Forbes as of this writing. There are a total of 138,000 square meters in The Pentagon.