Here’s your weekly spin around the Middle East and its global orbit. From market moves and power plays to deals, and surprises that set the news agenda, this wrap captures the stories around the region, and the ripple effects.
📌 Trillion-Dollar Club:
Talk about perfect timing. Two of Abu Dhabi’s biggest investment heavyweights placed $25 million each on Elon Musk’s SpaceX back in 2022, and that wager has now blasted into the trillion-dollar club.
International Holding Company and Alpha Dhabi Holding weren’t just lucky: they were early. IHC had already secured exposure back in 2020 through a private equity fund invested in SpaceX, locking in a front-row seat to one of Silicon Valley’s most prized assets.
With Musk now stitching together rockets, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and digital platforms into a single futuristic ecosystem, SpaceX sits at the beating heart of a sci-fi-worthy vision. And once again, Abu Dhabi was there before liftoff.
📌 Property Play:
Big-ticket real estate deals are piling up across Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the Gulf’s property boom shows no signs of slowing. Abu Dhabi’s Aldar is diving deeper into Dubai’s red-hot market, expanding its flagship partnership with Dubai Holding on projects worth over $10.3 billion, even as the emirate rolls out $27 billion of new developments to grow its financial district.
Back home, Aldar is locking in steady cash flows. Together with Mubadala, it has bundled Yas Mall and The Galleria Luxury Collection into a $2.7 billion luxury retail platform, betting on Abu Dhabi’s consumer and tourism engine.
The Gulf’s appetite isn’t stopping at home. Qatar Investment Authority is anchoring Hongkong Land’s new Singapore office fund, a $6.3 billion play on ultra-premium, income-producing real estate.
📌 People Moves:
- Michel Longhini takes the helm at Emirates Investment Bank as CEO, moving from First Abu Dhabi Bank’s global private banking division.
- Azura Partners, backed by Abu Dhabi’s Lunate, taps Yahya Sisalem from UBS to target ultra-HNW Saudi clients.
- Nomura’s wealth unit strengthens its Dubai presence with Jaai Saighal and Shaurya Tandon from Bank of Singapore.
- UBP hires Fahd Iqbal from UBS to lead Dubai investment services, alongside Joy Chammas and Mohammed Zaheer as Middle East market heads.
- Edmond de Rothschild appoints former Nomura banker Hamza Hamza to lead its Dubai advisory push.
📌 Deals and Debt:
- Abu Dhabi-based asset manager BlueFive Capital has closed a $3 billion fund aimed at technology and growth capital investments in the United States and Europe.
- Qatar is ramping up its bet on startups and innovation, as the Qatar Investment Authority added $2 billion to its Fund of Funds program.
- Emirates Global Aluminium, one of the world’s largest producers of the metal, has reportedly kicked off preliminary meetings for a potential IPO.
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is reportedly preparing to raise funds in offshore yuan markets for the first time.
- Saudi National Bank is said to be weighing a move into the fast-expanding market for significant risk transfer transactions.
🚩 Market Wrap: US stocks rallied Friday for their strongest day since May, erasing AI-fueled losses. The S&P 500 jumped 2%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 2.15%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average stormed past 50,000, buoyed by a rebound in chipmakers like.
Bitcoin rebounded sharply following a 50% decline from last year’s peak, while silver and gold also climbed. Oil edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate closing above $63 a barrel, as investors monitored U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
The week’s action was mixed: the Dow gained 2.5%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq fell 1.9%, following midweek AI-driven tech panic sparked by Anthropic’s new automation tools.
Next week: All eyes turn to January US jobs report on Wednesday and the consumer price index on Friday.
📌 Top Reads From Web:
- Qatar’s QIA among investors in AI chip startup Positron’s $230 million fundraising (Bloomberg)
- OpenAI in talks with Abu Dhabi’s G42to develop ChatGPT customized for UAE (Semafor)
- Dubai’s Emirates may consider ordering Airbus wide-body A350-2000 planes (Reuters)
- Saudi flag carrier in early talks with Boeing and Airbus on potential record order (Bloomberg)
- LIV Golf CEO says Saudi-backed tour may take 5–10 years to turn profit (FT)
- Abu Dhabi $160 billion fund targets 10% returns, expands investment strategy (Bloomberg)
- Dubai official says Loop project with Musk’s Boring Company starts immediately (Reuters)
- Kuwait plans to open oil fields and pipeline network to global investors (Bloomberg)
- Japan’s Mitsui close to investing in QatarEnergy’s massive North Field project (Reuters)
- Qatar signs agreement to supply liquefied natural gas to Japan’s top utility (Bloomberg)
- India, GCC agree on terms to start negotiations for free trade agreement (Reuters)
- UK trade minister says free-trade agreement with GCC nations is ‘imminent’ (Bloomberg)
- Saudi Arabia pledges $2 billion for Syrian airports, broadens telecom and energy ties (Reuters)
- Saudi Arabia aims to raise $64 billion from private investors by 2030 (Semafor)
🚩 Before you go:
Big news for road warriors and AI nerds alike. Apple is reportedly preparing to open up CarPlay to third-party AI apps. That means soon you could ask ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, or Anthropic’s Claude for dinner recommendations, directions, or the meaning of life without taking your eyes off the road.
It’s a big shift for Apple, which until now has kept its vehicle interface tightly Siri-only. Drivers will still need to open the app to talk to their AI copilots, and Siri isn’t going anywhere: its button and wake word are staying put, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.
Siri will still handle music, messages, and navigation, but for anything beyond that—complex questions, creative prompts, or just some good old curiosity—AI apps are going step up. For users who have been clamouring for smarter, more versatile voice assistance in their cars, this could be a game-changer.
