Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City football club, has been named as vice-president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a major political reshuffle on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old is the brother of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who became president of the oil-rich Gulf monarchy last May after the death of his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa.
Sheikh Mohamed also named his eldest son Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed as the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the richest of the UAE’s seven emirates, and a position that has traditionally signified the next in line to the presidency.
Almost a year after his brother Sheikh Mohamed was elected president, Sheikh Mansour now serves as vice president alongside Dubai’s governor and prime minister of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Mansour is one of the Middle East’s most powerful businessmen, with an estimated net worth of $22 billion. He is also chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, which oversees the emirate’s $243bn sovereign wealth fund; a board member of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company; and chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Emirates Global Aluminium.
He also heads Aabar Investments, which owns stakes in Virgin Galactic and Daimler, and the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC), which established Sky News Arabia under a partnership with British Sky Broadcasting.
His involvement in sports includes ownership of the City Football Group, which includes Manchester City, Melbourne City, New York City FC, and Mumbai City FC, as well as chairmanships of the Al Jazira sports company and the Emirates horse racing authority.
