Asia’s richest man, billionaire Mukesh Ambani topped the list of people who owned the most valuable properties in Dubai, with combined real estate totaling over $240 million, reported Forbes on Tuesday.

Forbes published this data as part of the investigation titled ‘Dubai Unlocked’ – a collaborative reporting project based on leaked data providing ownerhship data of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai, largely from 2020 and 2022.

The data was obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that researches international crime and conflict. It was then shared with E24 and OCCRP, which coordinated an investigative project with 74 media outlets in 58 countries

Forbes also uncovered 76 properties worth more than $600 million owned by 22 billionaires and their family members in Dubai.

Dubai’s luxury property market heats up with Ambani’s $163mn purchase

In October 2022, Bloomberg reported that Ambani set a record for the most expensive real estate sold in Dubai – a Palm Jumeirah mansion sold for $163 million.

Forbes has now revealed the size of the property – a staggering 59,570-square-foot villa.

This development topped his previous purchase a few months earlier in August 2022 when he bought an $80 million beach-side villa in Dubai – the city’s biggest ever residential property deal at the time.

Forbes estimated the size to be 27,544-square-feet.

Below are the top10 billionaires with the most valuable properties in Dubai:

• Mukesh Ambani: $240 million

• M.A. Yusuff Ali & family: $70 million

• Shamsheer Vayalil: $68 million

• Suhail Bahwan: $45 million

• Andrei Molchanov & family: $23 million

• Vinod Adani: $20 million

• Changpeng Zhao: $14 million

• Saket Burman: $14 million

• Igor Makarov: $11 million

• Naguib Sawiris & family: $10 million

Dubai is emerging as a favourite for the ultra-rich, and Ambani’s reported purchase cements this status

Dubai’s attraction

Dubai has long been attracting billionaires to Dubai, drawn by their relaxed visa policies, no capital gains or income taxes, making it an attractive place for wealthy investors.

Until recently, Dubai also lacked extradition treaties with many countries.

Foreign residents make up more than 80% of the population of the UAE with Indians, in particular, consistently topping the list of buyers of Dubai real estate, according to Bloomberg.

“Corrupt actors and politically exposed individuals avoiding public accountability use secrecy jurisdictions like the UAE to hide assets in plain sight,” said Maria Giuditta Borselli, a portfolio manager at C4ADS, was quoted as saying by Forbes.

Pakistanis also remained among the top 10 buyers of Dubai real estate in 2023, according to emirate-based property consultancy, Better Homes.

Earlier, it was reported that several Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats have also now been revealed to own multiple pieces of real estate, courtesy ‘Dubai Unlocked’.

Ex-govt officials, bankers, bureaucrats own properties in Dubai: report