Gulf

1. Half-trillion-dollar man
2. Crypto victory lap
3. Neumann’s Saudi hustle
4. Gulf optimism on Trump
5. Al Jazeera stiffs Gaza staff

Just what Dubai needs: A cheaper filet.

Qatar elevates Al-Sowaidi to lead QIA

Qatar appointed Mohammed Al-Sowaidi — Qatar Investment Authority’s former chief investment officer in the Americas — to be the $510 billion sovereign fund’s new CEO. He joined the fund in 2010, and has led US investments including into EV battery maker Ascend Elements and a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Washington Wizards.

QIA was once known for flashy deals in Hollywood, New York, and London, but in recent years has become more active in tech, healthcare, and private credit. Al-Sowaidi’s promotion comes as Qatar moves to boost its liquefied natural gas capacity by 85%, which is expected to generate surpluses over the next two decades.

Sovereign wealth chiefs rarely speak publicly, so his recent comments are worth scrutinizing. He said the fund is almost evenly split between public and private assets, and doesn’t expect to provide dividends to the Qatari government before “2030-plus.” At the Qatar Economic Forum, he said the fund must “alter our style to adapt long-term bets” to market changes.

Al-Sowaidi — who established QIA’s New York office in 2015 before returning to Doha in 2020, according to consultancy Global SWF — is the fund’s fifth CEO, and the third not from the royal family.

Gulf cashes in on Bitcoin boom

Saudi Arabia is outpacing the UAE in crypto adoption, even as the kingdom bans crypto assets and the Emirates vies to be a global hub. While Riyadh’s regulators have not cracked down on investors, its young and tech-savvy population has embraced the token era, and is celebrating this week as Bitcoin surged past $90,000, up 34% since Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.

Still, it may be the UAE that benefits most from a pro-crypto Trump administration. Clarity from US watchdogs on laws and regulations governing cryptocurrencies will unleash a new wave of investment activity, Sebastian Bea, president of Coinbase Asset Management, told Semafor. The UAE — with its tax-free financial zones, institutional interest, and strong regulatory environment — is well-placed to be a top choice for investors seeking an alternative to the US, he said.

“The region really gets Bitcoin,” Bea said. “If you get commodities like they do, then you get Bitcoin.”

Saudi housing draws Neumann’s Flow

Saudi Arabia needs over 100,000 homes annually through 2030, attracting WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s latest venture, Flow, to the kingdom as its first international market. Launched in 2022, Miami-based Flow recently set up a $293 million real estate fund with US and Saudi investors and broke ground on a 920-unit complex of two- and three-bedroom apartments, with rents ranging from $30,000 to $52,000 per year. Targeting middle- and high-income foreign workers and young Saudis entering the workforce, the project offers options to the growing number of Saudis moving out on their own before marriage.

In his trademark flair, Neumann said: “Saudi Arabia is the best place in the world to do real estate,” during a brief announcement at the Cityscape Global property exhibition in Riyadh. The exhibition was filled with Saudis eager to glimpse future developments, and more than $50 billion in deals were signed on the first two days.

Analysis: Trump’s playbook

Donald Trump’s second term is raising expectations of more engaged US leadership in the Middle East, with many here expecting bold steps to ending conflicts, Faisal J. Abbas, the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, writes in a Semafor column.

“There’s a belief in the region that ‘Abu Ivanka’ holds more cards, stamina, and the guts to do what his predecessor couldn’t,” Abbas wrote. “Trump 2.0 has little to lose but much to gain by brokering peace, and potentially reshaping his image from undertaker to peacemaker.”

Al Jazeera Gaza staff halt broadcasts

Al Jazeera’s Gaza team is suspending broadcasts until the Qatari network pays owed wages and expenses, according to an internal email obtained by Semafor. Hani Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera English correspondent, said his team’s transportation expenses haven’t been paid in two months, hindering their ability to report. Wages have also been delayed.

The network is peerless in bringing on-the-ground reporting from Gaza and other conflict zones in the Middle East. An Al Jazeera spokesperson blamed payment issues on the Israeli siege and fund transfer challenges into Gaza.

Diplomacy

• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman derided attacks on Iran’s sovereignty and said Israel should be pressured to cease hostile actions against it, in addition to Lebanon and Gaza. The kingdom and other Gulf countries have called for de-escalation of the conflict, as spillover could affect oil supplies and economic development plans.

Energy & Transition

• QatarEnergy agreed to acquire a 23% stake in an offshore natural gas block in Egypt’s Mediterranean Sea from Chevron. The consortium will drill an exploration well in the block, which lies 10 km offshore and a depth ranging between 100 and 3,000 meters.
• Saudi Arabia started a carbon-trading market on Tuesday, a day after climate negotiators agreed on global rules for carbon credits at COP29. Riyadh’s exchange launched with an auction of 2.5 million tons of carbon credits from projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and other countries. — Bloomberg

Real Estate

• NEOM’s chief executive was abruptly replaced by Aiman al-Mudaifer, a Public Investment Fund real-estate executive, in a move that the board called strategic and a “natural evolution.” The project has faced delays and negative press regarding its management and culture. — The Wall Street Journal

Deals

• Mubadala and US private equity firm Apollo have extended a multibillion-dollar partnership, first formed in 2022, as Apollo looks to generate $275 billion of annual origination volumes in the next five years.

Let them eat steak. UAE diners should enjoy cheaper cuts under a free trade agreement between Australia and the Emirates that went into force this month. Duties on red meat worth over $460 million annually will be eliminated. The UAE — which imports 90% of its food and is Australia’s biggest buyer of steak in the Middle East — is eyeing similar deals with Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, and Ukraine.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s aspiration to unleash a lot more oil and gas drilling domestically faces a fundamental obstacle: The global market is already well-supplied, the CEO of ExxonMobil told Semafor’s Tim McDonnell at the opening of COP29.