Final evening, it was revealed that rapper French Montana had turn into engaged to Princess Sheikha Mahra of Dubai. Rumors of their romance first swirled final 12 months when the couple was noticed collectively at Paris Trend Week strolling hand-in-hand. Ever since, they have been noticed jet-setting from Dubai to Morocco (his dwelling nation), to Paris, and again once more.
French Montana has a net worth of $50 million. By our depend, that makes him one of many 40 richest rappers on the planet. Not too shabby within the grand scheme of issues… however in comparison with the fortune of the household he is marrying into, $50 million is a drop within the bucket. Or extra precisely, a drop of oil in a bottomless bucket that has reworked French Montana’s soon-to-be in-laws into one of many richest royal families in history. And all of it occurred in simply the previous few many years…
through Sheik Mahra/Telegram
An Extraordinarily Fortunate Discovery
Princess Mahra’s full title is Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The Al Maktoums have dominated Dubai for almost two centuries. As you in all probability know, Dubai is without doubt one of the richest locations on the planet — a city-state overflowing with a lot cash that the police drive Bugattis, Rolls-Royces, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis (that is not a joke, look it up!).
However Dubai’s obscene wealth is a comparatively new function. As lately because the early Seventies, Dubai was a dirt-poor fishing and pearling backwater, depending on small-scale commerce and suffering from poverty, the place most households lived in easy barasti huts comprised of palm fronds, and the primary export was dried fish.
Every part modified in 1966. That is the 12 months oil was found within the offshore Fateh subject, a discovery that immediately altered Dubai’s future. Three years later, the primary shipments of crude left its shores, and the Al Maktoum household out of the blue managed a useful resource that might generate unimaginable wealth. Try this time-lapse of Dubai from the Seventies to 2025, it is actually unreal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udWs-YsvjNo
The United Arab Emirates
When oil was first found in Dubai in 1966, the area was nonetheless a free assortment of sheikhdoms referred to as the Trucial States, overseen partially by the British. In 1971, six of these emirates — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, and Umm Al Quwain — banded collectively to kind a brand new nation: the United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khaimah joined a couple of months later, bringing the full to seven.
Technically, the UAE is a federation of semi-autonomous states. Every emirate is dominated by its personal Sheikh, and collectively they kind the Federal Supreme Council, the best constitutional authority within the nation. The council elects one of many rulers as President of the UAE — a place that has historically gone to the ruler of Abu Dhabi — whereas the ruler of Dubai has historically served as Vice President and Prime Minister. Shared issues like overseas coverage, protection, and the armed forces are dealt with on the federal degree, whereas every emirate retains management over its personal sources and far of its home governance.
Simply to underscore how fortunate Dubai and the Al Maktoums are, not all UAE international locations fell right into a vat of bottomless vitality effectively. Abu Dhabi additionally hit the jackpot and really controls over 90% of the UAE’s oil reserves. That is why the ruler of Abu Dhabi (presently Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan) can be President of the UAE. However the different 5 UAE international locations? Snake eyes. The northern emirates (Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, and Sharjah) both had tiny reserves or none in any respect, with Sharjah the partial exception because of modest gasoline fields. At this time, these emirates rely closely on federal subsidies from Abu Dhabi and different industries like delivery, manufacturing, and tourism to maintain themselves.
The Al Maktoum Dynasty
On the time of Dubai’s oil discovery, town was dominated by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who led from 1958 till his demise in 1990. Sheikh Rashid used Dubai’s newfound oil wealth properly, reinvesting revenues into infrastructure, ports, and commerce zones that might lay the muse for town’s explosive progress.
When Sheikh Rashid died in 1990, his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum turned the ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed would go on to rework town into a worldwide monetary hub and tourism powerhouse, overseeing megaprojects just like the Burj Khalifa, the Palm Islands, and Emirates Airways. At this time, Sheikh Mohammed has a internet value of $16 billion. That makes him the richest person in Dubai and one of many prime three richest Sheikhs within the United Arab Emirates. However to make issues just a little extra sophisticated, considered one of Sheikh Mohammed’s different daughters is married to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of many rulers of Abu Dhabi and one of many solely folks within the area with the next internet value than the Al Maktoums.
Sheikh Mohammed has an estimated 26 youngsters from as many as 11 wives. Amongst them is Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, French Montana’s fiancée. She was born in 1994 to Sheikh Mohammed and Zoe Grigorakos, a Greek socialite who seems to now not be legally married to the Sheikh.
Sheikha Mahra
Sheikha Mahra grew up within the internal circle of Dubai’s ruling household however has additionally cultivated a comparatively trendy and public-facing persona. Not like many royals within the area, she maintains an energetic presence on Instagram, the place she shares household photographs, cultural celebrations, and glimpses of her every day life.
In April 2023, Mahra married Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana Al Maktoum, one other member of Dubai’s prolonged royal household. The marriage was a lavish affair attended by high-ranking dignitaries and royals. Simply months later, the couple honeymooned in Greece, paying homage to Mahra’s maternal roots, and within the spring of 2024, they welcomed their first youngster, a daughter.
However the marriage rapidly unraveled. In July 2024, Mahra shocked the world by asserting her divorce on Instagram with a dramatic publish that learn:
“Expensive Husband, as you’re occupied with different companions, I hereby declare our divorce. I divorce you, I divorce you, and I divorce you.”
The message appeared to invoke the Islamic follow of triple talaq, although on this case it was Mahra herself issuing the declaration. The publish went viral earlier than being deleted, nevertheless it confirmed her break up from Sheikh Mana.
Only a 12 months later, Mahra is as soon as once more making worldwide headlines — this time for her engagement to rapper French Montana.
The Wealth of Sheikh Mohammed
The overwhelming majority of Sheikh Mohammed’s energy and wealth comes because of his near-total possession of Dubai Holding, a state-backed conglomerate that manages between $30 billion and $70 billion in international property. The portfolio contains luxurious inns, actual property, media firms, and investments that stretch far past the Center East. He’s additionally one of many largest personal landowners in the UK, controlling huge estates value billions.
Sheikh Mohammed has been the driving power behind lots of Dubai’s most iconic developments. He oversaw development of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest constructing on the planet; the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab lodge; the man-made Palm Islands; and large enterprise zones like Dubai Web Metropolis. In 1984, he additionally launched Emirates Airways with a $10 million seed funding, which grew into one of many world’s main worldwide carriers.
In fact, his fortune is not simply seen in skyscrapers and airways — it has additionally been on full show in his private life. His 2019 divorce from Princess Haya of Jordan resulted in a record-breaking $735 million settlement, the biggest in British authorized historical past. Court docket filings from the case revealed an virtually unimaginable life-style: the couple as soon as spent £2 million on strawberries in a single summer time; their two youngsters every obtained £10 million annual allowances; they traveled on a customized Boeing 747; and their family was staffed by almost 80 staff. The household additionally loved entry to a $400 million superyacht and palaces value lots of of thousands and thousands.
Will Sheikh Montana Inherit Billions Sometime???
As dazzling because the Al Maktoum fortune is, it is unlikely that French Montana will ever have private entry to billions of {dollars} by this marriage. For one factor, Sheikha Mahra has roughly 25 siblings, lots of them sons. In conventional Arab royal dynasties, the lion’s share of inherited wealth flows to the male heirs, especially the crown prince, quite than being divided equally amongst daughters.
That does not imply Princess Mahra might be left with nothing. Quite the opposite, she is anticipated to reside the remainder of her life as a well-supported royal with entry to extraordinary privileges. She is going to seemingly obtain beneficiant allowances, get pleasure from using personal jets, superyachts, palaces, and employees, and preserve the status and affect that comes with being considered one of Sheikh Mohammed’s daughters.
I am additionally unhappy to report that French Montana won’t inherit a royal title from this marriage. In Gulf monarchies like Dubai’s, royal titles are reserved for members of the ruling household by start. Overseas spouses who marry into the household, particularly non-royals, do not routinely turn into “princes” or “sheikhs.” So, no, we cannot quickly be calling him Sheikh Montana 🙁
So whereas French Montana could not out of the blue turn into a billionaire or a prince/Sheikh by marriage, he’s now related to a dynasty whose life-style and sources rank among the many most opulent in historical past.
