Biography & Early Wealth Journey

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Wheels magazine in the UAE recently featured Hamad with three off roading vehicles that were customized in his own workshop. He took those three vehicles to the Gulf News Fun Drive—an event at which people show off their cars in the middle of the desert. Hamad's Instagram feed is also full of his cars and creations.

Hamad tries to stay out of the limelight, despite his rather outsized hobbies. He has a personal fortune of about $20 billion, which rivals the Saudi King's own net worth. Hamad lives in a literal castle. His fortune comes from his family's control over oil deposits in Abu Dhabi. That oil makes up about 95% of the oil in the entire United Arab Emirates.

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Hamad also spent about $22 million to have his name carved on a private island in letters that from top to bottom were more than 3,280 feet. The letters are so large, HAMAD stretches two miles long from the H to the D and can be seen from space. This was done on Al Futaisi island. The letters were carved from a winding series of waterways so that they would not be erased by the ocean. A few years later, however, Hamad had his name erased. It remains unclear why Sheikh Hamad embarked on the strange project in the first place and it is just as unclear why his name was erased.