Sulaiman Abdul-Karim Mohammed Al-Fahim (born 1976 or 1977) is an Emirati television personality and self described billionaire businessman in the UAE real estate sector. He was involved in the deal in which the Abu Dhabi royal family obtained

Manchester City F.C Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...

. In 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail by a UAE court for stealing £5 million.

Early life and education

Al-Fahim was born in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in 1977. He obtained his master's degree in Finance and Real Estate from the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He has claimed that he has a PhD in Real Estate from American University, but there is no record of him earning a PhD from the school and the school does not offer a PhD in real estate. Nonetheless, Al-Fahim uses the honorific "Dr." In 1998, Al-Fahim lost his parents and brother in a car accident.

Career

Al-Fahim heads the real estate company Hydra Properties, which is owned by the Royal Group, an investment conglomerate headed by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the royal family in Abu Dhabi. Al-Fahim was president of UAE Chess Federation from 2008 until 2012. Al Fahim published the book ''Brand Builder''. Al-Fahim was the founder and host of a business themed

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show ''Hydra Executives'' which was launched in Spring 2008. It had a run of two seasons.

Manchester City F.C.

Al-Fahim was involved in the deal in which the Abu Dhabi royal family took over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 2008. He looked at various clubs on behalf of the Abu Dhabi royal family and suggested that they buy Manchester City. Al-Fahim signed the first agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) with the legal representative of the former

Prime Minister of Thailand The prime minister of Thailand (, , ; literally 'chief minister of state') is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Siamese Revolution of 1932, when ...

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...

, who owned Manchester City. Al-Fahim then presented the offer to the Abu Dhabi United Group where

Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (; born 20 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati royal and politician who is the current Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and List of prime mi ...

took the final agreement forward and took over Manchester City.

Portsmouth F.C.

In 2009, Al-Fahim owned

Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The team is currently competing in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system in the 2024–25 ...

for six weeks. In 2018, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail for stealing £5 million from his wife to fund the purchase of Portsmouth. In the aftermath of Al-Fahim's brief stint at Portsmouth, the Premier League tightened its rules on ownership.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahim, Sulaiman Al- 1977 births Living people Kogod School of Business alumni Emirati television presenters Emirati businesspeople in real estate Emirati football chairmen and investors Manchester City F.C. directors and chairmen Portsmouth F.C. directors and chairmen Emirati chief executives Chess officials