1. HH Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s National Security Advisor since 2016, has cemented his position as the most influential figure in Arab business and geopolitics. At the intersection of sovereign finance, artificial intelligence, and international diplomacy, Sheikh Tahnoon commands a portfolio that few individuals in the world can rival. He chairs or oversees assets estimated at $1.3–1.5tn.

His chairmanship spans Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with approximately $1tn in assets under management; MGX, the AI-focused investment vehicle targeting more than $100bn in assets under management; G42, Abu Dhabi’s flagship artificial intelligence and cloud computing company; Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ); International Holding Company (IHC); and the Royal Group, his private investment entity.

In 2025, Time magazine named him among its 100 Most Influential People in AI, recognising his unique role in shaping the global technology landscape from the Gulf region. The defining moment of 2025 came in March, when Sheikh Tahnoon led a high-level UAE delegation to Washington DC and met US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The visit resulted in the announcement of a historic $1.4tn, 10-year UAE investment framework in the US, described by the White House as one of the largest foreign direct investment commitments in American history.

The framework targets AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and manufacturing. Within the AI investment space, MGX continued its aggressive global strategy throughout 2025, with a portfolio spanning Stargate UAE (being built by G42’s Khazna Data Centers, in which MGX took a minority stake in April 2025), partnerships with OpenAI, xAI, and Databricks, and the build-out of what is set to become Europe’s largest AI campus near Paris — expected to ramp to 1.4 gigawatts of capacity.

In the US, Vantage Data Centers is working with OpenAI and Oracle to develop AI-focused data centre campuses under the Stargate initiative, including a nearly one-gigawatt facility in Wisconsin.

In February, MGX co-led Anthropic’s $30bn Series G funding round, alongside global investors including GIC and Coatue, at a $380bn post-money valuation, underscoring its growing role in global AI investment.

At G42, where Sheikh Tahnoon serves as chairman, the company continues to advance an AI-driven strategy underpinned by a $1.5bn investment from Microsoft in 2024 and active partnerships with OpenAI.

In the digital assets space, MGX made a landmark $2bn equity investment in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, reflecting the UAE’s growing influence in the Web3 economy.
Sheikh Tahnoon’s portfolio continues to grow across biotech, infrastructure, and financial services through the IHC-linked Lunate and the Royal Group.