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.

[4] He oversaw the growth of Dubai into a global city,[5][6] as well as the launch of a number of government-owned enterprises including Emirates Airline, DP World, and the Jumeirah Group.

[11][12][13][14][15][16] 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.

[18] On 16 February 2021, 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.

In 1966, with his cousin Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, he attended the Bell Educational Trust's English Language School in the United Kingdom.

[25][26] He subsequently studied at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, passing out with the sword of honour as the top Commonwealth student.

[24][29][30] In January 1968, Mohammed was present when his father and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan first met in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi at Argoub El Sedira[31] to agree to the formation of a union of emirates following British notification of intent to withdraw from the Trucial States.

[30][32] A period of uncertainty and instability followed the Union of the United Arab Emirates, including skirmishes between tribes over property, straddling new borders.

On 11 February, the Council approved President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's nomination of Sheikh Mohammed for prime minister.

[46][47] On 19 October 2020, Mohammed led the UAE Council of Ministers meeting that ratified a peace agreement with Israel, normalizing diplomatic relationships between the countries.

"[55] Mohammed announced that the Hope mission had succeeded at orbit insertion on 9 February 2021,[56] and shared the first picture the probe had captured days later.

A further $75 million in facilities and materials was provided, but Emirates has always maintained that it has received no further subsidies throughout the company's meteoric growth to become one of the world's leading airlines.

Offering companies long leases, full ownership, and fast access to government services, DIC grew from its first tenants in October 2000, to a current zone employing about 15,000 people.

(9) of 2017 includes the launch of the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for Tolerance, administered in accordance with the provisions and statute of said Law.

He owns Darley Stud, the biggest horse breeding operation in the world with farms in the United States, Ireland, England, and Australia.

[89] Both his thoroughbreds and endurance horses have failed drug tests – although his trainers (including Mahmood Al Zarooni) have accepted the blame.

[91] In the 15th Asian Games in 2006, the sheikh's eldest son, Rashid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, took the individual gold in endurance riding.

[106][107][108] Robinson admits she was "horribly tricked" when photographs of the private lunch were made public and that both she and Haya had been told of details of Latifa's bipolar disorder, a condition which she does not have.

[110] Despite her family's insistence that she has been enjoying time with them at home the past two years, Latifa says in the series of videos released by her advocates that she is "a hostage" and fears for her life.

[113] A brief statement issued on Latifa's behalf by law firm Taylor Wessing stated that she was free to travel and requested privacy.

[117] In December 2019, a UK family court ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, Mohammed may have committed the crime of "taunting" Haya after her adulterous affair with a bodyguard became known, which verbal "taunting," the court held, amounted to subjecting Haya to "a campaign of intimidation,"[122] reportedly including guns placed on her pillow.

[124][125][17] In October 2021, the High Court ruled that Mohammed's agents used the Israeli Pegasus spyware to hack the phones of Princess Haya, her solicitors, a personal assistant and two members of her security team in the summer of 2020.

[128][129][130] In 2006, American lawyers representing the UAE raised a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that none of the involved parties resided in the US, arguing that the UN program best served the interests of the children.

[131] A 2006 UNICEF-sponsored program with the UAE government resulted in the repatriation of hundreds of children formerly enslaved as camel jockeys, and provided them with social services and compensation upon return to their home countries of Pakistan, Sudan, Mauritania, and Bangladesh.

[133] In April 2013, Mohammed's Godolphin stables trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni was disqualified for eight years from thoroughbred horse racing by the British Horseracing Authority for administering steroids to eleven racehorses.

Mohammed stated that he was "appalled and angered" by the case and announced that the stable would be locked down while drug tests were carried out on all horses under Al Zarooni's care.

[135] In October 2013, Mohammed faced another scandal in the venue of horseracing, with reports of potentially toxic and dangerous steroids, anaesthetics, and anti-inflammatory drugs being shipped into the UAE, mislabeled as "horse tack".

The leaked 11.9 million files revealed that Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also used offshore companies to manage and expand his wealth.

[145][146] Sheikh Mohammed owns real estate in the United Kingdom worth more than 100 million British pounds, as well as properties in Rome through a company registered in Luxembourg.

[147] In the 2021 Pandora Papers leaks, it was revealed that Sheikh Mohammed was a shareholder in three additional companies registered in jurisdictions allowing secrecy.