Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - to give him his full name - has built the biggest bloodstock empire there's ever been.
And now he is the central figure in one of football's biggest takeovers as the investment arm of Dubai's government seeks a buy-out of Liverpool FC.
Comparisons have already been made with Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich, but the Sheikh is a man apart - one who has helped revolutionise the world of horse racing.
the Emir of Dubai, has finally unveiled the largest yacht in the world. Formerly known as Project Panhandle / Golden Star, the 531-ft. Dubai (above) was originally commissioned by Prince Jefri of Brunei. Al-Maktoum purchased the partly-constructed behemoth in 2006, and had it transported from Blohm & Voss in Hamburg to the the newly formed Platinum Yachts shipyard in Dubai for completion (renamed then Project Platinum), at a total cost of about $350 million. With eight decks, the Dubai can accommodate 115 people including a crew of 88. In addition to the swimming pool, Jacuzzis, helipad and multiple dining areas, saloons, guest and VIP suites, the yacht features two owner's suites on the sixth and seventh decks and two heli-observations rooms on the seventh and eighth decks, Superyacht Times reports.
The interior is garish in the extreme, a floating Las Vegas casino by way of the UAE. She has a maximum speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 25 knots with a range of 8,500 nautical miles. The Dubai may not hold its world's largest yacht title for long, however; as we reported back in October, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich commissioned an even larger yacht, the $355 million, 555-ft. Eclipse. It remains to be seen whether the economic downturn, in which Abramovich lost several billion dollars, will hamper completion of the yacht which includes a military-grade missile defense system. The Eclipse is also being equipped with armor plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich's master suite, as well as bullet-proof windows.
The Pegasus Veyron doesn't belong to Sheikh Mohammed. He wouldn't drive a car registered C UAE 1 (UAE plates are cheaper than Dubai/Abu Dhabi plates as they are from one of the other 5 emirates). Sheikh Mohammed's personal ride, a G55 AMG plainly says Dubai 1 (No alphabets). And this Pegasus edition Veyron belongs to a Russian Oil Billionaire, who supposedly "Lives" at the Burj Al Arab.
You'd think that only the Sheik would have enough influence to own such a car and number plate but info sourced from Autoblog.nl suggest that the car is owned by a Russian project developer living in Dubai. Other cars said to be in his collection include a SLR McLaren, Pagani Zonda, Maybach 62, Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Murcielago, Hummer H2 and a G55 Mercedes.
Some reports also suggest that the special Pegaso Veyron develops more power than the official 1,001hp figure, with most estimates around the 1,200hp mark. Pegaso was a Spanish coachbuilder that built a series of luxurious sports cars during the 1950s and worked closely with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo during this time.
Sheikh Mohammed's first wife (also called senior wife) is his first cousin who he married in 1979. His second wife (junior wife) is the daughter of the former king of Jordan.
She is also the half-sister of Jordan's current King Abdullah II of Jordan (as of 2007). He married her in 2004 and he has 17 children with the two wives.
He is very well educated and had undergone private tutoring while growing up. He is also very passionate about life and has diverse interests. Some of those include art, poetry, charity and horse racing! His children also share his interests.
Throughout the years, he has made billions of dollars in donations to developing underprivileged counties. In 2007, he pledged $10 billion to an educational foundation in the Middle East. This is one of the biggest donations in history.
His horses perform very well all around the world. He recently (as of 2008) purchased the Woodlands Stud Empire in Australia for $420 million. The last published figure I could find on his net worth is from 2007 where it is estimated at $16 billion.
It is estimated because royalty wealth cannot be easily measured because of several undisclosed investments, equity and even real solid hard cash (probably stacked underground their palaces). He is the fourth richest royal in the world (as of 2007).
The Sheikh also carries a passion for cars and boats. As of 2008 he owns the world's biggest yacht measured at 163 meters. He also has over 100 cars in his garage in his Dubai palace.
Kish has seen him in his Mercedes box shaped hummer looking ride. I have heard this ride is made of 100% pure metal. It must be heavy! His other favorite cars include the Maybach, Ferrari, Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and Lamborghinis.
And now he is the central figure in one of football's biggest takeovers as the investment arm of Dubai's government seeks a buy-out of Liverpool FC.
Comparisons have already been made with Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich, but the Sheikh is a man apart - one who has helped revolutionise the world of horse racing.
the Emir of Dubai, has finally unveiled the largest yacht in the world. Formerly known as Project Panhandle / Golden Star, the 531-ft. Dubai (above) was originally commissioned by Prince Jefri of Brunei. Al-Maktoum purchased the partly-constructed behemoth in 2006, and had it transported from Blohm & Voss in Hamburg to the the newly formed Platinum Yachts shipyard in Dubai for completion (renamed then Project Platinum), at a total cost of about $350 million. With eight decks, the Dubai can accommodate 115 people including a crew of 88. In addition to the swimming pool, Jacuzzis, helipad and multiple dining areas, saloons, guest and VIP suites, the yacht features two owner's suites on the sixth and seventh decks and two heli-observations rooms on the seventh and eighth decks, Superyacht Times reports.The interior is garish in the extreme, a floating Las Vegas casino by way of the UAE. She has a maximum speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 25 knots with a range of 8,500 nautical miles. The Dubai may not hold its world's largest yacht title for long, however; as we reported back in October, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich commissioned an even larger yacht, the $355 million, 555-ft. Eclipse. It remains to be seen whether the economic downturn, in which Abramovich lost several billion dollars, will hamper completion of the yacht which includes a military-grade missile defense system. The Eclipse is also being equipped with armor plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich's master suite, as well as bullet-proof windows.
The Pegasus Veyron doesn't belong to Sheikh Mohammed. He wouldn't drive a car registered C UAE 1 (UAE plates are cheaper than Dubai/Abu Dhabi plates as they are from one of the other 5 emirates). Sheikh Mohammed's personal ride, a G55 AMG plainly says Dubai 1 (No alphabets). And this Pegasus edition Veyron belongs to a Russian Oil Billionaire, who supposedly "Lives" at the Burj Al Arab.
You'd think that only the Sheik would have enough influence to own such a car and number plate but info sourced from Autoblog.nl suggest that the car is owned by a Russian project developer living in Dubai. Other cars said to be in his collection include a SLR McLaren, Pagani Zonda, Maybach 62, Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Murcielago, Hummer H2 and a G55 Mercedes.Some reports also suggest that the special Pegaso Veyron develops more power than the official 1,001hp figure, with most estimates around the 1,200hp mark. Pegaso was a Spanish coachbuilder that built a series of luxurious sports cars during the 1950s and worked closely with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo during this time.Sheikh Mohammed's first wife (also called senior wife) is his first cousin who he married in 1979. His second wife (junior wife) is the daughter of the former king of Jordan.
She is also the half-sister of Jordan's current King Abdullah II of Jordan (as of 2007). He married her in 2004 and he has 17 children with the two wives. He is very well educated and had undergone private tutoring while growing up. He is also very passionate about life and has diverse interests. Some of those include art, poetry, charity and horse racing! His children also share his interests.
Throughout the years, he has made billions of dollars in donations to developing underprivileged counties. In 2007, he pledged $10 billion to an educational foundation in the Middle East. This is one of the biggest donations in history. His horses perform very well all around the world. He recently (as of 2008) purchased the Woodlands Stud Empire in Australia for $420 million. The last published figure I could find on his net worth is from 2007 where it is estimated at $16 billion.
It is estimated because royalty wealth cannot be easily measured because of several undisclosed investments, equity and even real solid hard cash (probably stacked underground their palaces). He is the fourth richest royal in the world (as of 2007).
The Sheikh also carries a passion for cars and boats. As of 2008 he owns the world's biggest yacht measured at 163 meters. He also has over 100 cars in his garage in his Dubai palace.
Kish has seen him in his Mercedes box shaped hummer looking ride. I have heard this ride is made of 100% pure metal. It must be heavy! His other favorite cars include the Maybach, Ferrari, Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and Lamborghinis.
praise be to Allah may Allah bless the beautiful arab sultan the late sheikh Zayed who was also a saint! i am a indian muslim with iraqi background and i couldn't help but notice sheikh maktoums children look very indian especially his daughters also many pakistani muslims are there in this area some have been arabicized and some mixed with the arabs of the area since time of bani Umayya and banu Hashim many indian muslims migrated and settled this area MashaaAllaah we are muslim it is just the punjabi sikh and hindus think they are like these people well the punjabi muslims have settled in the gulf area long time ago not the hindus and sikhs only reason they might look similar is because the muslims of hind migrated to gulf and either they became fully arabicizd and also they mixed this is the reason 4 the similarities in the faces please do not forget about southern india these people there have been trading with the arabs since 600b,c and islam first entered into the southern port of kayalpatnam in the year 633 one yr after the Prophet PBH passed away during the khilafa of Abu Bakr SiddiqRA. this area was trading with the ancient Nabateans and also the arabs of Yemen!
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