Sheikh Mohammed: The ruler of Dubai

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the mastermind behind Dubai’s sudden and rapid success. He was born on July 22, 1949. He is the third of four brothers. Sheikh Mohammed is also the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But before all that, he is the ruler of the great city, Dubai (all as of 2006). He and his government advisors realized in the mid 2000s that Dubai will soon run out of oil (oil was never a big component of Dubai GDP) and that it could sustain only so much of its trading activities. Trading will ultimately max out at some point. So, the Sheikh formed a master plan to branch out what Dubai has to offer to the world. He took all the wealth assets and invested it in transforming Dubai into a city for tourist and sports.

Dubai attracted many foreigners who realized the opportunity of doing business in Dubai because of tourism and sports. Soon the new Dubai was built and offered all kinds of tax breaks for companies to do business. Now, there are buildings everywhere and they are running out of space so fast that they are building land on water by dumping sand. These artificial lands are very astonishing. They are the Dubai Palm Islands.

When Sheikh Mohammed was crowned prince of Dubai in 1995, Dubai’s true transformation started. When his older brother passed away, he became the official ruler of Dubai. He ruled in Dubai for 10 years. Under his supervision during this time, the world’s only 7 star hotel and very popular Burj Al Arab was constructed. He also led the Dubai Palm Islands and Burj Dubai which is going to be the world’s tallest building. Sheikh Mohammed’s style was more business savvy. He also set up a conglomerate called as Dubai Holdings. He also formed many other companies, heavily invested all over the world in all kinds of projects.

Sheikh Mohammed’s first wife was also called senior wife. She is his first cousin who he married in 1979. His second wife (junior wife) is the daughter of the former king of Jordan who he married in 2004. She is also the half-sister of Jordan’s current King Abdullah. He has 17 children with these two wives. He is a well cultured person. He had undergone private tutorial while growing up. He is also very zealous about life. He has miscellaneous interests including art, poetry, charity and horse racing. His children also share his interests. Till now he has made billions of dollars in donations to mounting underprivileged provinces. He assured $10 billion to an educational foundation in the Middle East in 2007.

To catch the interest of Sheikh Mohammed, get concerned in horse racing and be very good at it. He is very well known worldwide for his involvement with horse racing. He is the owner of world famous Darley Stables and Godolphin Stables.

The Sheikh also carries a passion for cars and boats. He owns the world’s biggest yacht measured at 163 meters.

One of biggest deal activities of Sheikh Mohammed was in 2006 when he tried to purchase the Liverpool Football Club.

The Information about Dubai is the best Dubai City Guide written from a fresh, practical and first-hand perspective; informing on Dubai entertainment, Dubai jobs, Dubai Sightseeing, hotels, travel to Dubai and much more.