I was amused to read this article in the the UK’s Daily Mail today. Billionaire? When I interviewed Hussein Sajwani a few years ago, he was still CEO of Damac, the Middle East’s largest private developer, but certainly not a billionaire. I also understand that at that time, the property developer had had some financial problems, and the Dubai Government helped out. Damac has always been a property developer that was too big to fail. Imagine what damage could be done to Dubai’s reputation.
When I was back in Dubai recently, Damac was advertising Trump villas, as well as his golf course. Clearly, local investors are not investing as Damac would have hoped so it is now looking further afield for investors.
Damac has always had billboards everywhere. And it is not shy in using a gimmick if necessary. Many of its apartments were sold on the back of the fact that the purchaser could get a top-of-the-range car or even an aeroplane. Buy an apartment and get a plane. What a cool idea. Not even win a plane.
I also remember Sajwani as being the only person whom I interviewed who refused to be recorded by tape. Notes only, he insisted. A little strange when most people prefer the accuracy of a tape recorder.
Other articles by Lucia Dore about Damac:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20080227/ARTICLE/302279968/1036
http://pennyfool.blogspot.co.nz/2006_02_01_archive.html
Billionaire dubbed 'the Donald of Dubai' seeks to sell Trump-
branded villas abroad
- Hussain Sajwani's company DAMAC properties launched the new set of Trump-branded duplex villas in Dubai this week
- The $806,000 villas include three-year memberships at the Trump golf course
- Eric and Donald Jr. Trump opened the Trump Golf Club in Dubai in February
- A Dubai newspaper suggested buyers could 'own a piece of the Trump name' by purchasing one of the villas
- It isn't clear how Sajwani trades on Trump ties in meetings with foreign leaders
- Sajwani's dream for a global expansion with his company received a major boost with Trump taking the White House
A billionaire dubbed 'the Donald of Dubai' launched a new effort this week to sell Trump-brand villas at the golf course bearing the US president's name in the United Arab Emirates.
Hussain Sajwani's company DAMAC properties launched the new set of Trump-branded duplex villas this week, priced from 2.96 million dirhams ($806,000) that includes three-year memberships at the Trump golf course.
The company previously offered stand-alone villas at prices starting at 5 million dirhams ($1.3 million) up to 15 million dirhams ($4 million).
In February, Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. opened the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai - the first of two to be built in the sheikhdom by Sajwani.
Hussain Sajwani's company DAMAC properties launched the new set of Trump-branded duplex villas this week (above) at the golf course bearing the US president's name in Dubai
Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka met with DAMAC properties chairman Hussain Sajwani at the Trump International Golf Course back in 2014
The Trump Organization, now run by Trump's adult sons though the president hasn't divested from it, also tweeted that the new villas were for sale.
It told the Associated Press that the villas are 'not a new project' and represented 'our longstanding relationship with DAMAC Properties.'
While DAMAC merely mentions Trump as representing 'the most respected developments throughout the world,' one Dubai newspaper more bluntly suggested buyers could 'own a piece of the Trump name.'
While it remains unclear how Sajwani trades on his Trump ties in private meetings with foreign leaders, advertising and marketing by DAMAC prominently features Trump.
That could lead to potential conflicts, according to Norman Eisen, who served as President Barack Obama's lead ethics attorney and who now is a part of a watchdog group suing Trump for his alleged violations of a clause of the US Constitution that prohibits foreign gifts and payments.
If Sajwani 'is featuring the Trump name in his marketing materials and if, as one can fairly assume, that's being furnished to government officials and others, then that would be a not-very-subtle attempt to trade on his business partner's presence in the White House,' Eisen said.
While it remains unclear how Sajwani trades on his Trump ties in private meetings with foreign leaders, advertising and marketing by DAMAC prominently features Trump
Sajwani has made a number of recent trips outside Dubai of late that shows he also wants to expand his development empire beyond the Mideast and a tower that is currently under construction in London.
During recent trips to Croatia and Malta, Sajwani - a business partner of the Trump Organization - looked more like a head of state himself as he mingled with government dignitaries, receiving a presidential reception and visiting the glittering Mediterranean Sea.
Sajwani met with leaders in the two European nations and addressed local journalists, many of whom referred to his ties to President Donald Trump or simply called him 'the Donald of Dubai.'
'My dream is as we have put our major, iconic tower in London, that we do repeat that in major gateway cities around the world,' Sajwani said in a July online video.
'Tokyo, Toronto, New York, Paris, I don't know. But that would be a dream - to grow DAMAC with its iconic brands around the world.'
Sajwani's dream for a global expansion - as well his growing online presence among social media videos and posts - received a major boost with Trump taking the White House.
It also raised the public profile of a billionaire whose fortune grew in part out of contracting work his companies did in supplying US forces during the 1991 Gulf War that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
DAMAC Properties declined an Associated Press interview request with Sajwani.