Billionaire's abrupt death leaves Dubai ruler to untangle messy inheritance

In a particularly exclusive corner of Dubai, a modern-day palace with moorish arches and an imposing gateway is rising from the desert, despite uncertainty over who will live there. 

As dozens of workers bustle on the sprawling lot adjacent to the fine sand of Al Mamzar beach, local authorities are agonising over the villa and the rest of the estate of Majid Al Futtaim, the deceased patriarch of a shopping and entertainment empire that’s an anchor of Dubai’s economy. 

Al Futtaim’s inheritance was left unresolved when the octogenarian died in December. While the villa was intended as a residence for him and his third wife, the centerpiece of the estate’s Majid Al Futtaim Holding (MAF). 

The company controls $16.5 billion in assets, including a renowned indoor ski hall, the opulent Mall of the Emirates and the Carrefour hypermarket franchise in West Asia. It has activities in 17 countries, extending into Africa. Investors also hold some $3.7 billion in corporate debt.

To oversee any potential disputes, Dubai’s leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum appointed a special judicial committee, a relatively rare occurrence reserved for high-profile cases. The body is headed by Essa Kazim, chairman of the group that runs Dubai’s stock exchange.  Ten people, including three wives, one son and six daughters, have claims on the estate, which was estimated to be worth $6.1 billion at the time of Al Futtaim’s death, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

MAF is now in transition to multiple owners and that process could lay the groundwork for more sweeping changes, according to sources. 

Options include selling parts of the group, an investment by a sovereign wealth fund and a public listing, said the sources. 

The process will take time as the family and the company seek to avoid disruption and the emirate looks to retain its reputation as a relative safe haven amid the geopolitical turmoil stoked by war in Ukraine. 

Family-owned companies have been crucial to the emirate’s development, and a messy succession plan risks distraction and disruption just as the region looks to broaden its economy away from a reliance on oil. 

“With so many other major family-owned conglomerates in Dubai, the stakes are too high to let such succession disputes bubble over,” said Christopher Davidson, associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. 

The stakes in MAF have been decided and registered, and a shareholder meeting is being arranged for nine family members after Al Futtaim’s wife from Abu Dhabi transferred her holding to her daughters. None of the heirs aside from Tariq Al Futtaim, the sole surviving son and a board member since 2011, have played a role in the group.

“The company will continue to run as it has been running,” said Habib Al Mulla, the lawyer for Tariq and his family, adding that Tariq’s goal is to remain a board member. “It had one owner, and now it has nine owners.”

There is a lot of work being done on cataloging, evaluating and distributing Al Futtaim’s personal assets such as planes and boats in various locations. All told, the inheritance talks are likely to take at least a year, according to Al Mulla. 

Marriage links to other prominent families in the United Arab Emirates complicates issues over MAF’s future direction. The heirs have coalesced into four groups. One is based in Dubai around Tariq and his family, and another in Abu Dhabi. Two individuals, including Al Futtaim’s third wife, have their own lawyers.