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In the heart of Dubai’s financial center sits an investment fund whose name is rarely mentioned in public, though its money surfaces with striking regularity in deals around the world. It operates with such discretion that the identity of its backer was a mystery to at least one long-time employee.

is the family office of , president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi. Staffed by a team of dealmakers in one of Dubai’s glitziest corporate towers, it’s believed to manage assets worth tens of billions of dollars and has become a crucial pit-stop for fundraising in the Middle East.

The firm has built positions in mega-cap stocks like , and , and invested with and It has been a shareholder in closely-held companies including supercar maker and a startup developing a . And it’s helped finance everything from Chinese buyouts to healthcare takeovers in the US and even a luxury hotel on the banks of Venice’s Grand Canal.

Since the start of last year alone, AC Limited has backed ’s , helped finance a management buyout of European private credit heavyweight and invested in the nearly $700 million listing of the Uzbek national investment fund. Even after war , executives from one of the world’s largest banks met senior figures at the family office and left with the impression that its appetite for deals remained undimmed.

This portrait of the fund was compiled through an analysis of regulatory filings around the world and conversations with dozens of people familiar with the matter. Nearly all of them asked not to be named to avoid damaging relationships with an entity striving to keep a low profile. AC Limited doesn’t publicize its investments, and its involvement in the vast majority of these transactions hasn’t been previously reported.

In one indication of the secrecy shrouding the fund, none of the people interviewed by Bloomberg News could quite pinpoint exactly how many billions it manages. Yet they all concurred on one specific point: it’s among the most influential family offices globally. Sheikh Mohamed , one of the world’s richest families with an estimated fortune exceeding $335 billion, according to the . He’s leader of an emirate that’s home to funds , and boasts ties across the top echelons of politics, finance and technology.

Given that heft, some firms have sought out AC Limited for the cachet it bestows beyond the money it brings to the table. Working with the family office is often viewed as a badge of honor, indicating trust from Abu Dhabi’s inner circle and a potential pathway to doing business with other local investing behemoths.

As Abu Dhabi continues to splash out cash globally, AC Limited only stands to grow in importance, according to one person who frequently deals with the entity. Executives at the family office have recently started to consider whether to invest more in the defense industry, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The breadth of these ambitions offers a glimpse into the private fortunes helping cement the UAE’s status as an important destination for Wall Street — and a window into why the titans of finance have continued to head to the country even under the shadow of war. While the region’s rise is largely viewed through the lens of sovereign funds like and the , alongside them sits another vast pool of capital: the private fortunes of wealthy royals and family business groups that can rival global institutions in scale.

“Abu Dhabi has staggering amounts of cash, with many pools for the foreign funds to tap,” said Michael Field, a British author and consultant on Gulf ruling families. “AC Limited is a natural stop for any visiting private equity or hedge fund executive.”

For the biggest names in the business, the outfit has been seen for years as an important provider of capital. When Elon Musk on potential for his ultimately unsuccessful $82 billion to take private in 2018, AC Limited featured on a confidential list of go-to investors.

Royal family offices are “indispensable and influential partners” in global finance across asset classes for those in the know, said , a family business strategist and senior adviser at McKinsey & Co. But despite being “deeply embedded in private markets and holding major positions across the public ones,” they prefer to shy away from the limelight, he said.

Indeed, AC Limited has worked to avoid any mention of its royal connections, and doing business with the family office comes with caveats. Asking representatives of the firm whose money they manage is a quick way to end the meeting, according to an executive at a top US hedge fund that raises capital in the Middle East. A spartan makes no mention of a royal backer, and doesn’t identify members of the executive team or specific investments.

In fact, the bulk of its dealmaking is orchestrated by a cast of characters with experience at top sovereign funds like Mubadala, and the . Some have worked at , , or . While many were lured with competitive pay packages tied to investment performance, there are other perks as well: AC Limited’s stake in McLaren afforded staff a roughly 50% discount on the British automaker’s $400,000 sports cars, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The top of the AC Limited pyramid includes a clutch of executives who earned their stripes at Mubadala. Two alumni of the sovereign fund hold key positions: is chief executive officer, while , who was once a combat medic in the US Army, has been serving in a senior role directing investments.

, a to the royal family and Mubadala’s CEO, sits on AC Limited’s board. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince , who is Sheikh Mohamed’s son and has taken an increasingly in recent months, helps with oversight.

Former Rothschild & Co. banker is a key executive who’s helped oversee private investments, while , a veteran of hedge fund Maverick Capital, leads public-markets investing. They’re among dozens of AC Limited employees who work from a skyscraper that also houses One visitor described AC Limited’s office as the nicest corporate digs they’d ever seen, featuring a bathroom stocked with every type of perfume imaginable.

“They’re an institutional-caliber family office,” said Paul Westall, co-founder of London-based family office recruitment firm Agreus. “They’re one of the big ones and very sophisticated in their operations.”

That shows up in the variety of AC Limited’s investments.

It has a relatively high allocation to private markets and invests in leveraged buyouts, secondaries, private credit and real estate debt. Its relationships span the biggest names on Wall Street, from and to and . It’s also backed funds from and Dubai-based emerging markets specialist .

Like other outfits in the UAE, AC Limited has become a major player in the credit world. It holds an indirect stake in Hayfin after helping fund a management buyout completed last year. And it has put money into vehicles linked to European warehouse specialist as well as an Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies fund.

Elsewhere, AC Limited has backed a $2 billion Chinese buyout fund run by Citic’s private equity arm, which participated in the landmark restructuring of state-owned excavator manufacturer XCMG. And the fund teamed up with when it publicly-traded lab supply company for $6.4 billion including debt in 2017.

It’s invested in at least one deal that soured, providing debt in 2023 to fund the development of luxury properties owned by Austrian businessman ’s real estate business, which collapsed later that year. The money was intended to finance projects at Venice’s historic five-star Bauer Hotel, a Hamburg shopping center and a 1930s Berlin hotel.

AC Limited Chief Financial Officer declined to comment when reached by phone, while other senior executives didn’t reply to queries. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dubai Media Office didn’t respond. Other companies mentioned in this article either declined to comment or didn’t respond.

While the amount of money managed by AC Limited’s different units has varied over time, a single investment arm revealed a $1.8 billion US stock portfolio during one recent quarter. It’s been a big beneficiary of the AI boom, with bets on Nvidia and contract chipmaker ranking among the best performers within its publicly-disclosed holdings over the past year. AC Limited has been a major investor in new stock listings, and backed a number of blank-check mergers during the 2021 boom in special purpose acquisition companies.

The family office has sometimes joined deals that dovetail with the UAE’s broader strategic goals, often alongside the country’s sovereign funds. AC Limited made an early bet on electric car maker ahead of its IPO, and the Chinese brand announced plans for a research base in the UAE following from Abu Dhabi state fund .

AC Limited invested in Hollywood super-agent ’s entertainment company before its listing. Mubadala was also a backer of Endeavor, which controlled the organizer of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Those links paved the way for local tourism destination Yas Island to host bouts with mixed martial arts champions like Conor McGregor at the height of the Covid pandemic.

The fund remains a popular pit stop for high-profile visitors. Former White House communications director , who organizes a popular hedge fund conference, is among those who’ve been hosted by the fund’s top brass in recent years, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Visitors are usually taken to nearby haunts like Clap, a trendy Japanese restaurant featuring a live DJ and $300 omakase menu.

AC Limited’s dealmaking offers a window into how fortunes are managed at one of the world’s richest families. Like other prominent members of Middle Eastern ruling clans, Sheikh Mohamed has plowed some of his riches into real estate, including a sprawling mansion sandwiched between London’s Chelsea and South Kensington districts that for £65 million ($87 million) in 2023. One of his investment vehicles owns a luxury house in the British capital’s leafy Holland Park neighborhood, property records show.

But while the royal family’s luxury real estate holdings grab the headlines, vehicles like AC Limited are the force behind some of their more consequential dealmaking.

The UAE is home to Royal Group, a conglomerate controlled by , who is Sheikh Mohamed’s brother and the country’s national security adviser. Sanad Abu Dhabi is an investment firm linked to Sheikh Khaled. , which also manages money for members of the emirate’s ruling family, and Shamal Holding, which invests on behalf of Dubai Crown Prince , are other prominent names.

These types of family offices are among the most sought-after partners in the market, as a single relationship can anchor a large deal, according to Roll. They bring scale, patient capital, a discreet reputation and the ability to commit quickly across cycles, he said.

“What we are watching is a quiet institutionalization of dynastic wealth,” Roll said. “The leading royal family offices are no longer custodians of capital. They are active shapers of global markets, and their influence is only growing.”