Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan missing after glider crash
Rescuers are continuing the search for Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, who remains missing two days after a glider crashed into a reservoir in Morocco.
The glider’s pilot was rescued on Friday and is in good condition, according to state media reports. But the search for Nahyan, whom Forbes named the 27th-most powerful person in the world last year, continued.
Sheikh Ahmed, 41, is the younger brother of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, who is ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE. He is one of 18 surviving sons of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the UAE’s founding father, who died in 2004.
Although not immediately in line to the throne, he holds enormous influence as managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign funds with assets estimated at between $300bn and $800bn.
He has been credited with the helping to transform the emirate, but has maintained a low-key profile.
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ADIA seeks to spread the risk of Abu Dhabi’s profits from its oil wealth, with stakes of less than 5 percent in companies around the globe.
Forbes magazine put Sheikh Ahmed at number 27 on its list of the world’s most powerful people.
ADIA officials yesterday declined to comment. The pilot had been rescued and was in good condition.