I knew nothing about the Qatar bidders past the basics on the BBC etc, so did a bit of a dive. If anything is wrong, please correct me! I'll try not to go into politics of Tamim vs HBJ etc.
The bid is being fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad, son of the enigmatic HBJ or Hamad bin Jassin bin Jabr. Bin means 'son of,' so Jassim is bin Hamad etc. Their family name is Al Thani which is the ruling family of Qatar, and HBJ is the uncle of the former emir.
It's not confirmed yet, but its highly likely the man behind this bid is HBJ. He has said he doesn't like football much. He is a close ally and friend of the former emir (father of the current emir) and was the prime minister, head of QIA and foreign minister. Arguably the most powerful man in Qatar until the emir stepped down and handed power to his son Tamim. When Tamim came to power, he removed HBJ as prime minister and man in charge of the QIA etc. Since then, HBJ has been less in the limelight; he lives in London a lot, travels with the former emir, and lives a chill life. He's known as the guy who owns London as he has so much property there.
When PSG was purchased, HBJ was the man who approved the buy ultimately. The QNB social responsibility paper back in 2012 comments that "A sponsorship agreement with Paris-Saint Germain (PSG), one of France’s most illustrious football teams,is expected to help elevate the QNB Group brand in France and across Europe. The elevated visibility from this agreement is expected to attract new inter-est and opportunities from global investors, who share enthusiasm for world-class sport competition. " - QIA owns 50% of QNB (big commercial bank in Qatar) - The son, Jassim is chairman of QIB, the foremost Islamic bank in Qatar. This is a shade over 17% owned by QIA, and Jassim has around 7% personal ownership. (This is probably where the 2bn net worth figure is being bandied about from, though it makes around 1bn a year in profits so that's probably outdated.)
Since Tamim came to power, QSI (an arm of QIA, which is the government basically) have been relatively quiet; although they did buy 22%~ of Braga.
It is assumed that HBJ has little individual power left in Qatar (Tamim stripped him of it), and that the QSI/QIA is not involved. (HBJ and son have been banished from QIA) - However, one should not assume that this is private. It makes no sense for QIB, a Sharia bank, to buy Man Utd, and it Jassim does not have the power or finance himself to do so. For me me, all roads lead to Tamim the emir. However, because HBJ and him are publicly 'fallen out' and QIA is only a minority shareholder in QIB, there should be little to no regulatory issues.
If Tamim is not behind it, he has at the minimum explicitly approved it, such is his hold over the country. HBJ is not known to love football, so somebody who does is pulling strings. The son is not powerful enough alone to pull it off. As for who the 'private' investors are; QIB could in theory afford it alone, but you'd imagine some sort of consortium.
The bid is being fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad, son of the enigmatic HBJ or Hamad bin Jassin bin Jabr. Bin means 'son of,' so Jassim is bin Hamad etc. Their family name is Al Thani which is the ruling family of Qatar, and HBJ is the uncle of the former emir.
It's not confirmed yet, but its highly likely the man behind this bid is HBJ. He has said he doesn't like football much. He is a close ally and friend of the former emir (father of the current emir) and was the prime minister, head of QIA and foreign minister. Arguably the most powerful man in Qatar until the emir stepped down and handed power to his son Tamim. When Tamim came to power, he removed HBJ as prime minister and man in charge of the QIA etc. Since then, HBJ has been less in the limelight; he lives in London a lot, travels with the former emir, and lives a chill life. He's known as the guy who owns London as he has so much property there.
When PSG was purchased, HBJ was the man who approved the buy ultimately. The QNB social responsibility paper back in 2012 comments that "A sponsorship agreement with Paris-Saint Germain (PSG), one of France’s most illustrious football teams,is expected to help elevate the QNB Group brand in France and across Europe. The elevated visibility from this agreement is expected to attract new inter-est and opportunities from global investors, who share enthusiasm for world-class sport competition. " - QIA owns 50% of QNB (big commercial bank in Qatar) - The son, Jassim is chairman of QIB, the foremost Islamic bank in Qatar. This is a shade over 17% owned by QIA, and Jassim has around 7% personal ownership. (This is probably where the 2bn net worth figure is being bandied about from, though it makes around 1bn a year in profits so that's probably outdated.)
Since Tamim came to power, QSI (an arm of QIA, which is the government basically) have been relatively quiet; although they did buy 22%~ of Braga.
It is assumed that HBJ has little individual power left in Qatar (Tamim stripped him of it), and that the QSI/QIA is not involved. (HBJ and son have been banished from QIA) - However, one should not assume that this is private. It makes no sense for QIB, a Sharia bank, to buy Man Utd, and it Jassim does not have the power or finance himself to do so. For me me, all roads lead to Tamim the emir. However, because HBJ and him are publicly 'fallen out' and QIA is only a minority shareholder in QIB, there should be little to no regulatory issues.
If Tamim is not behind it, he has at the minimum explicitly approved it, such is his hold over the country. HBJ is not known to love football, so somebody who does is pulling strings. The son is not powerful enough alone to pull it off. As for who the 'private' investors are; QIB could in theory afford it alone, but you'd imagine some sort of consortium.
this made me laugh way more than it should