Sulaiman Al-Fahim

Infobox Person
name = Sulaiman Al-Fahim _ar. سليمان الفهيم


caption =
birth_date = 1977
birth_place = Dubai, United Arab Emirates
alma_mater = American University
death_place =
other_names =
occupation = CEO of Hydra Properties Abu Dhabi United Group member
nationality =

Dr. Sulaiman Abul Kareem Mohammad Al-Fahimcite web|url=http://www.gulfnews.com/friday/People/10215235.html|title=Hydra CEO shares his success story|last=Sayed|first=Sara|date=2008-05-23|work=Gulf News|publisher=Al Nisr Publishing|accessdate=2008-09-14] ( _ar. سليمان أبو كريم محمد الفهيم) (born 1977 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates)cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/top-flight--prepares-for-manchesters-trump-card-1467370.html|title=Top flight prepares for Manchester's 'Trump' card|date=2008-09-02|work=Irish Independent|publisher=Independent News & Media|accessdate=2008-09-14] more popularly known as Sulaiman Al-Fahim is a billionaire philanthropist.

Early life

Born in 1977 in Dubai, Al-Fahim was exposed to the business world at an early age. Aged eleven Al-Fahim worked in his father's Orient Pharmacy after school. Aged fourteen he began investing into the stock market under his mother's name and at fifteen invested in the property market. At the age eighteen he founded the "Sulaiman Al Fahim Group" which financed eduacation and sports in the UAE. In 1998 he was left orphaned after his parents and younger brother were involved in a fatal road traffic accident near Dubai Airport. Following the loss of his immediate family he moved to the United States to start a new life. There Al-Fahim received his PhD in Real Estate investment and a MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Kogod School of Business from the American University in Washington.cite web|url=http://www.hydraexecutives.com/ceo.html|title=Hydra Executives - CEO|accessdate=2008-09-02]

Hydra Properties

Al-Fahim is CEO of "Hydra Properties", a United Arab Emirates real estate company he founded in 2005.cite web|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/01/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-manchester-city-s-dr-sulaiman-al-fahim-115875-20720401/|title=10 Things you need to know about Manchester City's Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim|last=Gripper|first=Ann|date=2008-09-01|work=Daily Mirror|publisher=Trinity Mirror|accessdate=2008-09-02] Current projects include Al Reem Island; Mazatlan, Mexico; Abu Dhabi and Dubai. [cite web|url=http://www.hydraproperties.com/Project/index.aspx?s=All|title=Hydra Properties - Projects|accessdate=2008-09-02]

Hydra Executives

Al-Fahim is the founder and host of the business themed reality television show "Hydra Executives" which was launched in Spring 2008. Al-Fahim has often been referred to as an Abu Dhabi version of Donald Trump.cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/abf1a412-784f-11dd-acc3-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1|title=Abu Dhabi investors buy Manchester City|last=Stafford|first=Philip|coauthors=Kerr, Simeon|date=2008-09-01|work=Financial Times|publisher=Pearson PLC|accessdate=2008-09-02] Hydra Executives will be shown from mid Ocober 2008 on Real Estate TV in the UK and Ireland, found on Sky channel 262. Hydra Executives will also be broadcast on VOD via www.realestatetv.tv

port

A keen chess player, Al-Fahim was represented his country as a youth and is currently president of the UAE Chess Association, also claiming to have been ranked fifth in the world at the age of nine. [cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/arrival-of-alfahim-offers-city-chance-to-bridge-gulf-in-class-915662.html|title=Arrival of Al-Fahim offers City chance to bridge gulf in class|last=Herbert|first=Ian|date=2008-09-02|work=The Independent|publisher=Independent News & Media|accessdate=2008-09-14] Through his company "Hydra Properties" he is involved in sponsorship of Dubai sports television, a Costa Rican soccer team and the German Bundesliga. Al-Fahim is building a new football academy in Abu Dhabi with Italian football giants Internazionale.cite web|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/529580-abu-dhabi-seals-deal-for-manchester-city?ln=en|title=Manchester City Takeover |date=2008-09-02|publisher=ArabianBusiness.com|accessdate=2008-09-02]

Manchester City

On September 1st 2008 the Abu Dhabi United Group, of which Al-Fahim is a part, completed the potential take over of Premier League football team Manchester City. The deal was signed at the Emirates Palace Hotel in the presence of Al-Fahim, who was representing ADUG and is expected to sit on the Manchester City board. Within hours of the take over deal being finalized, ADUG financed the purchase of Robinho for a British transfer record of £32.5 million. [cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/chelsea/2670891/Chelseas-world-shaken-up-by-Manchester-Citys-super-rich-sheikh---Football.html|title=Chelsea’s world shaken up by Manchester City's super-rich sheikh|last=Wilson|first=Jeremy|date=2008-09-03|work=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=2008-09-03] . [cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article4659785.ece|title=Sulaiman Al-Fahim planning £134m January bid for Cristiano Ronaldo |date=2008-09-02|work=Times Online|publisher=News International|accessdate=2008-09-03 ] He has also said that he wants to bring in players such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Javier Mascherano, Philip Lahm, Fabio Cannavaro, Kaká. Rumours of the players' discontent at AC Milan are beginning to gather pace and their failure to reach this season's UEFA Champions League has only added fuel to that particular fire. Also Francesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Villa are said to be targets for the Manchester club. Bids, such as the club's attempt to gazump Manchester United's protracted bid to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur, have shown an early intent of what could seem a formality in the future.

Personal life

Al-Fahim is a fan of Al Ain and Al Jazeera. He has been awarded the Visionary Award as the Middle East 2007 CEO Awards. Al-Fahim married his present wife, Dhabya, in June 2003.

References

External links

* [http://www.hydraproperties.com/about/index.aspx CEO's Message at Hydra Properties]