Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 20 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour,[1][2][3] is an Emirati royal and politician who is the current vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, as well as the minister of presidential court and member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. He is the brother of the current president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,[4] and is married to Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. A billionaire, through City Football Group he holds stakes in a variety of football clubs, including Manchester City FC.

"Sheikh Mansour" redirects here. For the Chechen Islamic and military leader, see Sheikh Mansur.
In this Arabic name, the surname is Al Nahyan.

Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Sheikh Mansour in 2013
Vice President of the United Arab Emirates
Assumed office
29 March 2023
PresidentMohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates
Assumed office
10 May 2009
PresidentKhalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Prime MinisterMohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Preceded bySultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Minister of Presidential Court
of the United Arab Emirates
Assumed office
1 November 2004
PresidentKhalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Prime MinisterMohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Born (1970-11-20) 20 November 1970
Abu Dhabi, Trucial States
Spouse
  • Alia bint Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1994)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 2005)​
Issue
  • Zayed
  • Fatima
  • Mohammed
  • Hamdan
  • Latifa
  • Rashid
HouseAl Nahyan
FatherZayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
MotherFatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi
Styles of
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan
Reference styleHis Highness
Spoken styleYour Highness

Mansour is involved in various government-run companies in the UAE. He is chairman of the Ministerial Development Council,[5] the Emirates Investment Authority, and the Emirates Racing Authority. He sits on the Supreme Petroleum Council and the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs.[6] Mansour is a member of the boards of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).[7][8] He is chairman of Mubadala Investment Company,[9][10] the Emirati state-owned sovereign wealth fund.[11] He is chairman of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates.[12]

Mansour is also the owner of the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), an investment company for the Abu Dhabi royal family,[13] that acquired Manchester City Football Club in September 2008. He immediately handed all responsibility and ownership to Khaldoon Al Mubarak and the City Football Group which has overseen a significant transformation at the club since then.[14] The club has won six top-flight league titles for the first time since 1968; City's first Premier League titles. On 21 May 2013, Major League Soccer of the United States announced that its second New York City club, to be called New York City FC, would begin play in the 2015 season and be majority-owned by Mansour in association with brothers Hal and Hank Steinbrenner.[15]

Early life and education

Mansour was born in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on 21 November 1970, the fifth son of the Emir of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.[3] His mother is Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi and he has five full-brothers: Mohammed, Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, and Abdullah.[16] They are known as Bani Fatima or sons of Fatima.[17]

Mansour attended Santa Barbara Community College as an English student in 1989.[18] He is a graduate of the United Arab Emirates University where he received a bachelor's degree in international affairs in 1993.[18]

Political career

In 1997, Sheikh Mansour was appointed chairman of the presidential office, at which time his father Sheikh Zayed was the president of the UAE. After the death of his father, he was appointed by his eldest half-brother, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as the first minister of presidential affairs of the United Arab Emirates, following a merger of the presidential office and presidential court. He also served in a number of positions in Abu Dhabi to support his brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was still the Crown Prince at the time.[19]

He was appointed chairman of the ministerial council for services (now Ministerial Development Council).[5] Since 2000 he chaired National Center for Documentation and Research. In the 2004 reshuffle, he became minister for presidential affairs.[18] In 2005, he became the deputy chairman of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), chairman of the Emirates Foundation, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. In 2006, he was named the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department. In 2007, he was appointed chairman of Khalifa bin Zayed Charity Foundation.[20][21]

Mansour served as the chairman of First Gulf Bank until 2006,[22] and as a member of the board of trustees of the Zayed charitable and humanitarian foundation. Mansour has established scholarship programs for UAE students to study abroad. He is also chairman of the Emirates horse racing authority (EHRA).[3] On 11 May 2009, he was appointed deputy prime minister, retaining his cabinet post of minister of presidential affairs.[23] On 29 March 2023, with the approval of the UAE Federal Supreme Council, the UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a resolution, appointing Mansour as the country's second vice president, to serve alongside Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.[24][25]

Business portfolio

Mansour is the chairman of the Emirati state-owned Mubadala Investment Company.[9] He was formerly chairman of IPIC. After the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal was highlighted and Khadem al-Qubaisi, who was managing IPIC, was arrested in 2016, IPIC was folded into Aabar Investments. Qubaisi blamed Mansour and the UAE authorities for using him as a scapegoat in the affair.[26][27]

In 2005, he was appointed as a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council.[28] In the same year, he chaired the board of directors of IPIC and became a board member of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). In 2007, he was appointed chairman of the Emirates Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of UAE.[28]

Mansour has a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic after investing $280 million in the project through Aabar in July 2009.[29][30] Aabar also has a 9.1% stake in Daimler after purchasing the stake for $2.7 billion in March 2009[31] and it was reported that Aabar wishes to increase its stake to 15% in August 2010.[32] He owns the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) which partnered with British Sky Broadcasting to establish Sky News Arabia – a new Arabic-language news channel headquartered in Abu Dhabi.[33] ADMIC also owns the English-language newspaper The National,[34] and bought a 2.1% stake in pan-European channel Euronews in 2017.[35]

Sport

Mansour is an accomplished horse rider and has won a number of endurance racing tournaments held in the Middle East, and is chairman of the Emirates horse racing authority. He is a strong supporter of Arabian horse racing and the patron of the annual Zayed International Half Marathon competition in Abu Dhabi.[36]

He is the chairman of the Al Jazira sports company and was a leading figure in Abu Dhabi's successful bid to host the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and 2010.[37] The company owns Al Jazira Club, which plays football, volleyball, handball, and basketball.[38] The football club won the President's Cup in 2010–2011, 2011–2012 and 2015–2016.[39]

In September 2008, Mansour acquired Manchester City football club from former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. By 23 September 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group, backed by Mansour, completed their takeover negotiations and the ownership was transferred to them. He also owns the City Football Group, which was founded in 2014 and consists of Manchester City FC, Melbourne City FC, New York City FC, Mumbai City FC, and others. He has only been to two Manchester City games in his time as owner, his first in 2010 and the latest, the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.[40]

Personal life

Sheikh Mansour married Sheikha Alia bint Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed in the mid-1990s.[18] They have one son together, Zayed,[41][19] who married Sheikha Meera bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan in May 2022.[42]

In 2005, Mansour married Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. They have two daughters and three sons: Fatima (2006), Mohammed (2007), Hamdan (2011), Latifa (2014), and Rashid (2017).[43]

Controversy

The Sheikh has received a lot of criticism because of human rights issues in the UAE. He and his club have been accused of sportswashing.[44][45]

The UEFA report, which was produced in 2020 but never published, alleges that £30 million was given to the Manchester City F.C. by an unknown person of in United Arab Emirates, and alleges that the funding came from Manchester City's owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) owned by Mansour.[46]

Sheikh Mansour’s role as the owner of Manchester City fell in jeopardy, as the lawyers of a Ukrainian activist – Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers and Ben Keith from 5 St Andrew’s Hill Chambers – wrote a letter to the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, asking to investigate whether Mansour assisted the Russian oligarchs in moving their assets to the UAE and evading the sanctions. The lawyers pressed the UK government to investigate Sheikh Mansour’s conduct if he should be subject to the UK financial sanctions. If designated as the involved person, Sheikh Mansour would disqualify as the owner of Manchester City under the Premier League’s updated rules on its owners’ and directors’ test.[47]

Honours

Ancestry

References
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  2. Ogden, Mark (29 April 2013). "Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan expected to secure MLS franchise in New York". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  3. Viner, Brian (14 August 2010). "Sheikh Mansour: The richest man in football". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  4. "Cabinet Members". UAE. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
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  30. Wray, Richard (28 July 2009). "Abu Dhabi sheikh buys £170m stake in Virgin Galactic". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
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