His Highness Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the UAE royal family, has emerged as a significant figure on the global financial stage, with an economic fortune reportedly exceeding the GDP of several major countries. He is also a prominent financier in the field of artificial intelligence.
Sheikh Tahnoon, who trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the 1990s under the pseudonym "Ben", eventually achieved a black belt in the martial art. His global investments are extensive, encompassing diverse sectors from windfarms in Scotland to spaceships in Texas, and include interests in Rihanna’s lingerie line and Richard Caring’s Ivy restaurants.
Despite his growing influence, Sheikh Tahnoon maintains a low public profile, having never given a substantive interview to the press. He is now rapidly embedding himself within the infrastructure that will underpin the digital future, through investments in information pipelines, microchip foundries, datacentres, and the energy plants required to power them.