Profile Hamad bin Jassim: the man who bought London

CAIRO – 21 July 2017: “We made a mistake by supporting rebels in Syria,” Hamad bin Jassim said in an interview with the Charlie Rose show on PBS in June.

Although Qatar’s former Prime Minister denied financing terrorism, calling the accusations “without solid base,” he admitted supporting some groups with agendas in Syria.

Jassim is one of Qatar’s key policy makers. He surfaced on local media outlets to defend Qatar's position after the designation of 59 individuals and 12 institutions in a terrorism list by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt.

In 2003, Jassim became the first Deputy Prime Minister before becoming Prime Minister in 2007, while retaining his Foreign Ministry position.

Jassim in the UK

The 58-year-old Jassim was known as the “man who bought London” in the British media, according to the Independent newspaper in June, 2013. Jassim owns some of the capital’s most prestigious addresses.

In the United Kingdom alone, Qatar’s Jassim has big stakes in some of the London Stock Exchange’s aristocracy including Sainsbury’s, Barclays, Shell and the Stock Exchange itself, according to the Independent report in 2013.

The independent also disclosed that he also owns Harrods, Paris Saint-Germain football club, and lots and lots of property including London’s Shard of Glass and Park Lane’s InterContinental Hotel.

Recent leaks

Jassim was in charge of the Agriculture and Electricity portfolios in 1990 before chairing the Cabinet and the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 2007. The former prime minister reportedly has 15 children.

He praised Qatar’s strong ties with the U.S., while his country embraces five top leaders of Taliban, according to a leaked video broadcasted by Bahrain TV in June.

Jassim asked for Iranian assistance during the Gulf-Qatari diplomatic crisis in 2013, according to a series of leaks revealed by Bahraini al-Watan newspaper. “Hamad bin Jassim demanded al-Wefaq Association to keep pressures on Bahraini government and to keep protests against the Bahraini regime,” the leaks revealed.


The 133-meter yacht Al Mirqab is pictured off the coast of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, southeastern France in August 2013-Photo credit VALERY HACHE-AFP-Getty Images


Panama Leaks

FORBES determined that Jassim has nearly $700 million worth of public stock in Deutsche Bank, held through an entity called Paramount Services Holdings, which was not one of the companies published in the Panama Papers published in April, 2016.

Thanks in part to the massive Panama Papers leak published last year, FORBES has determined that Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani is a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of at least $1.2 billion.

Documents also point to Jassim owning about $215 million worth of stock in publicly traded Gulf Warehousing, a Qatar-based logistics company. Jassim joins 72 other billionaires from the Middle East who appear on FORBES' annual World's Billionaires rankings.

The Panama Papers leaks say that in 2002 Jassim acquired a shell company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and three more incorporated in the Bahamas.

"Through these companies, Jassim held shares and mooring spaces in the Spanish port of Palma, Mallorca, and managed his super-yacht, the $300 million Al Mirqab," the Panama Papers listing on Jassim reads.

FORBES confirmed with a yachting source that the 133-meter Al Mirqab has not changed hands since 2002, and that the luxurious yacht, which reportedly has a helicopter landing pad, jacuzzi, movie theater, gym and spa, is indeed worth $300 million.



leaked video by Bahrain TV- screenshot