Abdullah al-Ajaji

Spear’s Review

Saudi national Abdullah al-Ajaji is the founder and managing director of Dubai-headquartered Driven Properties, a rapidly expanding property brokerage, investment, management and consultancy firm that is making waves in the Middle East.

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University and London Business School, al-Ajaji started his career at Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, before joining Samba, one of the largest banks in Saudi Arabia. He went on to establish private equity firm MerchantBridge, where he was instrumental in raising over $800 million for the group’s acquisitions in the region. Satisfying an entrepreneurial streak, al-Ajaji later co-founded Arab Seed Angels, a network supporting Arab entrepreneurs in early-stage ventures.

Since launching Driven Properties in 2012, al-Ajaji has expanded into Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, Spain, India and Japan, advising UHNW clients and family offices on complex, high-value assets.

‘I realised there are asset holders and family offices in the [Middle East] who are not able to receive institutional-grade advice on large assets,’ he previously said of his motivation in founding the firm. ‘This fuelled my belief that we needed a competitive advantage, and that became our institutional and tech-driven approach to property.’ 

He has argued that Dubai is evolving from a speculative market into a tier-1 global city – a claim underscored by Driven’s 2024 report in collaboration with Forbes Global Properties, benchmarking Dubai alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris and Sydney. Dubai ranks fifth overall, closing in on the established financial capitals of the world.

Under al-Ajaji’s guidance, Driven has become a reference point for institutional-grade property strategy in the region, cementing his influence over both the trajectory of Dubai real estate and the broader Middle Eastern investment landscape.

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