Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Arabic: محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, romanized: Muḥammad bin Rāšid Āl Maktūm; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the vice president and prime minister of the UAE. Mohammed succeeded his brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum as UAE vice president, UAE prime minister, and ruler of Dubai following the latter's death in 2006. A billionaire, Mohammed generates most of his income from real estate and is described as "one of the world's most prominent real estate developers". The line is blurred between the assets of the Government of Dubai and those of the ruling Al Maktoum family. Any land he owns is managed as an asset of the state. He oversaw the growth of Dubai into a global city, as well as the launch of a number of government-owned enterprises including the Emirates airline, DP World, and the Jumeirah Group. Some of these are held by Dubai Holding. Mohammed has overseen the development of certain projects in Dubai, such as the Palm Islands and the Burj Al Arab hotel, as well as Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world since 2010. Mohammed is the absolute ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE, a position appointed by the president. The government is autocratic. On 5 March 2020, a British court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Mohammed had abducted two of his daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, and had threatened his former wife, the Jordanian princess Haya bint Hussein. Allegedly, Shamsa and Latifa were forcibly medicated while held in Dubai under Mohammed's orders since 2000 and 2018, respectively. On 16 February 2021, the BBC's Panorama broadcast a documentary featuring Latifa's video messages that she made secretly under enforced detention in Dubai on her father's orders. Mohammed is an equestrian and is the founder of the Maktoum family-owned Godolphin stable and the owner of Darley, a thoroughbred breeding operation, operational in six countries. In 2012, he rode the horse Madji Du Pont 160 km to take the FEI World Endurance Championship.