Spear’s Review                                                                     

Qatar’s vast gas reserves and tiny native population of around 300,000 make it one of the wealthiest countries in the world on a per capita basis.

The man in control of many of the nation’s most eye-catching overseas investments is Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, chief executive officer of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Created in 2005 to handle the windfall from Qatar’s gas exports, the QIA has more than $500 billion in assets, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. 

Al-Mahmoud’s investments have included €2.4 billion in German power company RWE and $1.5 billion in Bodhi Tree, James Murdoch’s media venture in India. The QIA was also an anchor investor in Porsche’s initial public offering.

In the UK alone, Qatar already owns the Shard, Harrods, Claridge’s and the Grosvenor and Connaught hotels, plus a good chunk of British Airways (via a stake in its parent company IAG), Heathrow airport, Barclays and Sainsbury’s, and swathes of prime residential property, including Chelsea Barracks. 

Al-Mahmoud, a trained pilot, was previously the CEO of Qatar Museums and head of risk management at the QIA. He served as director of investment affairs for a former prime minister of Qatar and was CEO of Qatar Development Bank.