Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal. He is the current ruler of Dubai and serves as the vice president and prime minister of the UAE. Mohammed succeeded his brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as UAE vice president, UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai following the latter's death in 2006.
Under his leadership, Dubai became a global city. A number of government-owned enterprises have been launched, including the Emirates airline, DP World and the Jumeirah Group.
Mohammed oversaw the development of Palm Islands, the establishment of Burj Al Arab hotel and the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world since 2010.
Mohammed is the absolute ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE, a position appointed by the president.
Mohammed is an accomplished equestrian and the founder of both the Godolphin stable and Darley Racing, a thoroughbred breeding operation in six countries. In 2012, he rode the horse Madji Du Pont 160 km to take the FEI World Endurance Championship.
Early life Sheikh Mohammed is the third of four sons of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai. The Al Maktoum family is Dubai's ruling family and descendants of the House of Al-Falasi, of which Mohammed is the tribal leader. His mother was Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, daughter of former ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. He grew up in a house without electricity. A hundred people or more lived there, including guards and maids.
Education From the age of four, Mohammed was privately tutored in Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 1955, he began formal education at Al Ahmedia School. At the age of 10, he moved to Al Shaab School, and two years later, attended Dubai Secondary School. In 1966, with his cousin Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, he attended the Bell Educational Trust's English Language School in the United Kingdom. He subsequently studied at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, passing out with the sword of honour as the top Commonwealth student. He also travelled to Italy to train as a pilot.
Political career
Dubai Police
Upon Mohammed's return to Dubai from military training at age 20, his father, Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, appointed him as the head of the Dubai Police Force and the Dubai Defence Force (which later became a part of the Union Defence Force).
Minister of Defence In January 1968, Mohammed was present when his father and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan first met in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi at Argoub El Sedira to agree to the formation of a union of emirates following British notification of intent to withdraw from the Trucial States. When the new country of the United Arab Emirates was founded on 2 December 1971, Mohammed became its first minister of defence at the age of 22.
A period of uncertainty and instability followed the Union of the United Arab Emirates, including skirmishes between tribes over property, straddling new borders. On 24 January 1972, the exiled former ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, led an insurrectionist coup against his successor, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. Following a spirited firefight between the Union Defence Force and Sheikh Saqr's forces – mostly Egyptian mercenaries who had entered the UAE through Ras Al Khaimah – Mohammed accepted Saqr's surrender. Sheikh Khalid had been killed in the action, leading to the accession of his brother Sultan as ruler of Sharjah. Mohammed delivered Saqr to UAE president Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who put Saqr under house arrest in Al Ain.
In 1973, Mohammed was involved in protracted negotiations with the hijackers of JAL 404, led by Japanese Red Army member Osamu Maruouka, which landed in Dubai after being hijacked as it departed Schiphol Airport. Although unsuccessful in obtaining the release of the hostages (they were finally freed, and the 747 blown up, in Libya), he was more successful in a later negotiation with the three hijackers of KLM 861, who released the balance of their hostages and handed over the plane in return for safe passage. In 1977, Mohammed oversaw the integration of Dubai's military forces with those of the other emirates.
Crown Prince of Dubai
On 3 January 1995, Mohammed's brother Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, signed two decrees. One decree appointed Mohammed as crown prince and the other appointed their brother Hamdan as the deputy ruler of Dubai.
Mohammed created the Dubai Shopping Festival in late 1995, an annual event that has become a significant contributor to the economy of the UAE.
In 2001, Mohammed ordered the arrest of Obaid Saqr bin-Busit, the head of Dubai Customs and the chairman of the World Customs Association.
Ruler of Dubai, Vice President and Prime Minister After roughly a decade of de facto rule, Mohammed became the ruler of Dubai on 4 January 2006, upon the death of his brother Maktoum. The following day, the Federal National Council selected him as the new vice president of the UAE. On 11 February, the Council approved President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's nomination of Sheikh Mohammed for prime minister.
Mohammed is the absolute monarch of Dubai. The government is described as autocratic, as there are no democratic institutions, and internal dissent is prohibited. Scholars characterize the UAE as authoritarian. According to human rights organizations, there are systematic human rights violations, including the torture and forced disappearance of government critics. There is a blurred line between the assets of the state of Dubai and those of the Al Maktoum ruling family.
Mohammed issued a law in 2006 to form the Dubai Establishment for Women Development, renamed by law in 2009 as the Dubai Women Establishment. He also formed the UAE Gender Balance Council in 2015.
On 19 October 2020, Mohammed led the UAE Council of Ministers meeting that ratified a peace agreement with Israel, normalizing diplomatic relationships between the countries. The Council, again headed by Mohammed, approved the decision to found an Emirati embassy in Tel Aviv in January, and Mohammed swore in the first Emirati ambassador to Israel, Mahmoud Al Khajah, a month later.
Space exploration Mohammed founded the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in 2015, which announced it would be launching a spacecraft to Mars to study the planet’s atmosphere; He stated that the planet was chosen for its "epic challenge", saying it would benefit the Emirati economy. He announced that the mission would be called Hope after a public vote, as the name would "send a message of optimism to millions of young Arabs," since "Arab civilisation once played a great role in contributing to human knowledge, and [would] play that role again."
Mohammed announced that the Hope mission had succeeded at orbit insertion on 9 February 2021, and shared the first picture the probe had captured days later. Hope became the first Arab mission to space, as well as the first of three missions in July 2020—the others from the United States and China–to arrive at Mars.
In 2020, Mohammed announced a second mission, this one to the moon. The Emirates Lunar Mission used a lunar rover, named Rashid, reportedly built entirely in the UAE. It was launched on 11 December 2022 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. In a historic first, his book The Journey from the Desert to the Stars was launched from the International Space Station through Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi.
Business career
Mohammed has overseen the creation and growth of a number of businesses and economic assets of Dubai, with a number held by two companies under his ownership, Dubai World and Dubai Holding. According to the laws of Dubai, the ruling family owns all undeveloped land in Dubai, which has allowed the family to prosper from real estate development. During Mohammed's rule, Dubai has seen enormous population growth, causing a real estate boom in Dubai. The boom was in part facilitated by Sheikh Mohammed's 2002 decree that foreigners would be allowed to purchase property in Dubai.
Mohammed established Dubai World by decree, leading to the company's launch on 2 July 2006, as a holding company consolidating a number of assets including logistics company, DP World, property developer Nakheel Properties, and investment company Istithmar World. With more than 50,000 employees in over 100 cities around the globe, the Group has real estate, logistics and other business investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company is owned by the government of Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed's personal corporate portfolio is the Dubai Holding Group, which is involved in a variety of investments. Dubai Holding benefits from its association with the ruling family of Dubai, and is given free land by the Dubai government.
Mohammed was responsible for the launch of the Emirates airline.
Launch of the Emirates airline Through the 1970s, as well as his role as head of Dubai Defence Force and UAE Minister of Defence, Mohammed oversaw Dubai's energy resources and was in charge of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority. It was in this latter role, in March 1985, that he founded the Emirates airline, tasking then-head of Dnata, Maurice Flanagan, with launching a new airline to be called Emirates after a dispute with Gulf Air over Dubai's 'Open Skies' policy. The launch budget of the airline was $10 million (the amount Flanagan said he needed to launch an airline) and its inaugural flight took place on 25 October 1985. Sheikh Mohammed appointed his uncle Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as chairman of the new company. A further $75 million in facilities and materials was provided, but Emirates has always maintained that it has received no further subsidies throughout the company's meteoric growth to become one of the world's leading airlines.
In 1989, Mohammed inaugurated the first Dubai Airshow. In 2013, the exhibition had grown to over 1,000 exhibiting companies, and was the venue for Emirates' placement of the largest aeroplane order in history, with $99 billion combined orders with Airbus for its A380 and Boeing for its 777X.
Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah
The Burj Al Arab was inaugurated in December 1999. The hotel, constructed from a design by WS Atkins in response to a brief from Mohammed to create "a truly iconic" building, styles itself as "the world's most luxurious hotel". It was constructed on an island offshore from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the first property managed by Jumeirah, the hotel management company launched by Mohammed in 1997 and headed by ex-Trust House Forte executive Gerald Lawless. While work began on both hotels at the same time, the island to house the Burj Al Arab required three years to build before construction began above ground. Jumeirah's international expansion, driven after it became part of Dubai Holding in 2004, encompasses 22 hotels in ten countries.
Dubai Internet City and TECOM On 29 October 1999, Mohammed announced Dubai Internet City, a technology hub and free trade zone. Offering companies long leases, full ownership, and fast access to government services, DIC grew from its first tenants in October 2000, to a current zone employing about 15,000 people. In November 2000, it was joined by Dubai Media City, a content and media production-free zone, which is co-located with DIC. The launch of DIC came with assurances from Mohammed regarding media freedoms. In 2007, he issued a decree banning the imprisonment of journalists following an incident in which local journalists were accused of libel and sentenced to jail terms.
Palm Islands
The Palm Islands were developed by Nakheel Properties, which Mohammed founded.
Interests, activities and philanthropic work Mohammed bin Rashid Global initiatives (MBRGI)