UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Early life

Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was born at Oasis Hospital in Al Ain on 11 March 1961, in what was then known as the Trucial States. He is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who became the founder and first president of the United Arab Emirates and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his third wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi. Mohamed has 18 brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Issa, Nahyan, Saif, Tahnoun, Hamed, Mansour, Falah, Theyab, Abdullah, Omar, Khalid, the late Khalifa, the late Sultan, the late Saeed, the late Nasser, and the late Ahmed. In addition to these, he has eleven sisters. He has five younger full brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, Mansour, and Abdullah. They are referred to as Bani Fatima (the sons of Fatima).

Mohamed attended schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi until the age of 18. He also spent a summer at Gordonstoun in Scotland. In his youth, his father put Izzedine Ibrahim, a respected Egyptian Islamic scholar with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, in charge of his education. Mohammed later joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating in April 1979. While there, he completed a fundamental armor course, a fundamental flying course, a parachutist course, and training on tactical planes and helicopters, including the Gazelle squadron. During his time in Sandhurst, he also met and became good friends with fellow officer cadet Abdullah of Pahang, who would later become the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia. In the 1980s, as a young military officer, he enjoyed vacationing in Tanzania, where he met the Masai people and saw their customs and the extent of poverty in the country. Upon his return he went to see his father. His father asked him what he had done to help the people he had encountered. Mohamed shrugged and said he had not helped them because the people he met were not Muslims. Mohamed said that his father "clutched my arm, and looked into my eyes very harshly. He said, 'We are all God's creatures.'" He has held a number of roles in the UAE military, from that of an officer in the Amiri Guard (now called Presidential Guard) to a pilot in the UAE Air Force.

Personal life

Mohamed is married to Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They married in 1980. They have nine children together, four sons and five daughters. They have 22 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren together.

Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. They have two sons: Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 28 February 2011) Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 14 May 2014) Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan (born on 8 January 1982). He is married to Sheikha Fatima bint Suroor Al Nahyan. They have four children: Shamma bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 10 October 2011) Mohammed bin Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013) Salama bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013) Zayed bin Khaled Al Nahyan (born 11 March 2025) Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born on 18 June 1984). She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan. They have six children: Hessa bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 22 May 2003). She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. They have two children: Wadeema bint Zayed Al Nahyan (born 18 January 2025) Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 11 April 2026) Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 29 December 2005) Salama bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 11 July 2007) Fatima bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 1 November 2010) Mohammed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 24 July 2024) Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 24 July 2024) Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is married to Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have three children: Fatima bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 4 June 2014) Salama bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 February 2016) Zayed bin Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 May 2019) Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1988. He married Sheikha Fakhra bint Khalifa Al Nahyan. They have two sons: Mohammed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (born 15 August 2022) Khalifa bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (born 28 February 2024) Sheikha Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1989. She is married to Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al Nahyan. They have four children: Mohammed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 20 November 2012) Saif bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 15 June 2014) Zayed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 3 December 2018) Mariam bint Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 16 August 2023) Sheikha Shamma bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1992. She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have one son: Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 17 May 2023) Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1995. He graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2020. Sheikha Hessa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 2001. Amina - adopted daughter Salha - adopted daughter A life-long fan of falconry, Mohamed established the Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School, with the goal of promoting, and sustaining, the ancient tradition by teaching it to new generations of Emiratis. He himself learned the practice from his father.

The fortune

Mohamed has gifted AED 55 million to the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, committed to raise US$100 million for the Reaching the Last Mile Fund, pledged US$50 million for children vaccine efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and contributed US$30 million to the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. The University of Texas chair for scientific and medical knowledge in cancer research is named after Mohamed as a result of a funding grant to MD Anderson Cancer Center. He organizes the Zayed Charity Marathon in New York City since its inauguration in 2005. The race raises awareness about kidney disease, and the proceeds go to the US's National Kidney Foundation. Mohamed bin Zayed has been involved in setting up art museums, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017 and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2012, as well as cultural heritage sites such as Qasr Al Hosn. Mohamed has been involved in efforts to protect wild falcons, bustards, and the Arabian oryx. He donated US$1 million to an initiative aimed at preventing the power line-related deaths of wild birds, as part of launching of the 20-million-dollar Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Foundation. He heads the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. A species of woodlizard — Enyalioides binzayedi — was named after Mohamed as the creator of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund that provided financial support to the expeditions leading to the discovery of the species in the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru. In 2017, Acer binzayedii, a rare species of maple tree found in the mountainous cloud forest of Jalisco in Western Mexico, was named after him.

Sanctions & controversy

On 17 July 2020, a French investigating magistrate was appointed to carry out the probe targeting Mohamed bin Zayed for "complicity in the use of torture", citing the UAE's involvement in the Yemen civil war. One of the two complaints was filed with the constitution of civil party by six Yemenis, who claimed to have been tortured, electrocuted and burned by cigarettes in Yemeni detention centres controlled by the UAE armed forces. A report by United Nations experts highlighted that the attacks of the Saudi-led coalition, of which the UAE is a member, may have constituted war crimes, and that the Emirati forces controlled two centres where torture has been carried out. Following the 2018 French probe into the torture claims, France's top criminal court, the Court of Cassation, rejected in November 2022 attempts to reopen the investigation and rule that there were "no grounds to accept an appeal." In October 2021, Mohamed's name was featured alongside four other Emirati officials in an indictment of Thomas J. Barrack, former adviser of Donald Trump. In July 2021, Barrack was arrested by the American authorities for allegedly failing to register as a foreign lobbyist for the UAE, obstructing justice and lying to investigators. Later, his seven-count indictment identified names of three Emirati royals, who were hosts at Barrack's reception in December 2016. It included Mohamed bin Zayed, Tahnoun bin Zayed and director of the Emirati intelligence service, Ali Mohammed Hammad Al Shamsi. Two other UAE officials named in the indictment were Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli and Yousef Al Otaiba. Together, the officials were accused of giving Barrack the task to push the Emirati interests with the US. In 2022, Barrack was found not guilty on all charges. On 17 July 2022, Mohamed visited France to meet President Emmanuel Macron. It was his first foreign travel since becoming the UAE president. However, a group of human rights organizations, including International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR), and the Ligue des droits de l'Homme, wrote an open letter to President Macron, highlighting the human rights situation in the UAE. Drawing attention to the repressive dictatorship practiced in the Emirates, they urged Macron to raise the issue of severe human rights violations in the UAE with Mohamed during the meeting. The letter also asked Macron to end the arms supply to the UAE, in wake of the Yemen war. In 2023, The New Yorker reported that Mohamed was paying millions of euros to a Swiss-based private investigation firm, Alp Services, for orchestrating a smear campaign against its targets, including Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. As part of this campaign, Alp posted false and defamatory Wikipedia entries, and published propaganda articles against the targets. Multiple meetings took place between the Alp Services head, Mario Brero, and an Emirati official, Matar Humaid Al Neyadi. However, Alp's bills were sent directly t