‘The man who bought London’: Qatar billionaire behind Prince Charles scandal
With an estimated personal net worth of over $1.2bn (almost £1bn) according to Forbes, sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, is one of the country’s richest men – and has often garnered attention because of his wealth and is currently in the headlines over alleged cash donations to Prince Charles.
Sometimes known as “HBJ” in London’s financial circles, the 62-year-old was named the “man who bought London” after he used his wealth, as well as his influence as the head of Qatar’s multibillion dollar sovereign wealth fund, the Qatari Investment Authority, to expand Qatar’s financial assets in London through a series of valuable assets.
From 2000 until 2013, al-Thani oversaw a series of high-profile investments in corporate Britain that included Harrods, the Shard (which is owned 95% by Qatar), London’s Olympic Village and Park Lane’s InterContinental hotel.
Al-Thani made a name for himself for his political prowess as well. A relative of Qatar’s ruling family, he has held several high-profile positions in Qatar’s government including minister of foreign affairs in 1992. He was appointed as Qatar’s deputy prime minister in 2003. In 2007, he became prime minister, a role he stepped down from in 2013.
In an interview with the Financial Times in 2016, he was described as an unapologetic statesman “known for his willingness to speak his mind, to swing unabashedly from one policy to another”.
Over the years, he has been central in orchestrating Qatar’s involvement in international diplomacy including in Yemen, Syria, and Israel and the Palestinian territories. Al-Thani earned the nickname “peacemaker” for his efforts to broker reconciliations between warring factions in Africa and the Middle
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