The President's Wealth
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Foreign Government
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan
UAE National Security Advisor
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the UAE's national security advisor and a brother of the UAE's president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. He controls an extensive network of sovereign and private investment vehicles and is one of the most powerful figures in UAE economic policy. An investment vehicle he controls, Aryam Investment 1, purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million in January 2025 -- just days before Trump's second inauguration on January 20, 2025. The transaction was not publicly disclosed by WLFI at the time and was only reported after investigative journalism surfaced the deal.
The transaction placed a UAE national security official as a near-majority investor in a cryptocurrency platform majority-controlled by the incoming US president and his family. Ethics experts and congressional Democrats described the arrangement as an unprecedented conflict of interest, with direct financial flows from a foreign government to the president-elect on the eve of his return to power. The Trump administration and WLFI disputed the characterisation, describing it as an arm's-length commercial investment.
Sheikh Tahnoon also oversees a broader portfolio of UAE sovereign and semi-sovereign investment vehicles with interests across technology, artificial intelligence, and financial services globally.
The transaction placed a UAE national security official as a near-majority investor in a cryptocurrency platform majority-controlled by the incoming US president and his family. Ethics experts and congressional Democrats described the arrangement as an unprecedented conflict of interest, with direct financial flows from a foreign government to the president-elect on the eve of his return to power. The Trump administration and WLFI disputed the characterisation, describing it as an arm's-length commercial investment.
Sheikh Tahnoon also oversees a broader portfolio of UAE sovereign and semi-sovereign investment vehicles with interests across technology, artificial intelligence, and financial services globally.
Associated Events
January 19, 2025
UAE Buys 49% of WLF for $500M
Investment vehicle controlled by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed purchases a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. The transaction is not disclosed publicly by WLF at the time.
Source: NYT/WSJ