Brics put UAE prince in spotlight. Who's Khaled al-Nahyan, the troubleshooter?

"We had a good conversation with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and agreed to put the past behind us and look to the future," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told reporters after the conclusion of the Brics Summit in New Delhi. The crown prince Pezeshkian was referring to was Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the 44-year-old heir to Abu Dhabi.

At the Brics Summit in New Delhi last week, Khaled's meeting with Pezeshkian was among the most closely watched bilateral engagements on the sidelines. The meeting was high stakes, as the UAE has borne the brunt of Iranian drones and missiles since late February amid the wider US-Israel-Iran war. The meeting was significant as it brought together the leaders of the two Middle Eastern rivals after months of hostilities.

Khaled also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Of late, the Abu Dhabi crown prince has been quite visible in global power circles. But beyond his diplomatic engagements, he also appears to be building a public image. Praises for the 44-year-old on social media have increased recently. As he left New Delhi after the Brics Summit, he drew attention with a warm gesture towards a chauffeur.

The meetings, the visibility and the responsibilities now being handed to Khaled point to a larger transition under way in Abu Dhabi. Khaled is no longer simply the son of the man who has dominated Abu Dhabi's political system for decades. He is being entrusted with the emirate's economic institutions, its diplomatic relationships and the day-to-day responsibilities that underpin Abu Dhabi's power.

His father, UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, aka MBZ, spent decades building a system. Khaled's task is now to inherit it, manage it and, potentially, steer it through a time when the regional order in the Middle East is uncertain. But Khaled's prospects of inheritance come with a complication.

KHALED IS INHERITING A UAE CHALLENGED BY SAUDI ARABIA

The UAE has enormous wealth and has developed major business, financial, logistics and investment sectors. Yet in the Gulf's political pecking order, it has had to navigate the outsized influence of neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a vastly larger population and economy, which gives Riyadh a weight in regional affairs that Abu Dhabi cannot match. Saudi Arabia, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, has come to occupy more space in the regional order.

In recent years, Riyadh has sought to build its own competing business, tourism, investment and diplomatic centres, challenging the UAE's long-established position as the Gulf's preferred hub of finance, transit and tourism. The rivalry has extended from economic projects to oil policy and, most significantly, Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered Yemen as allies in 2015, but eventually backed different local forces and pursued different political objectives. The rivalry between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi has since become one of the defining tensions within the Gulf's relationship with Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has the scale. Its economy was worth about $1.2 trillion in 2025, nearly three times the UAE's $548 billion, while Saudi Arabia spent $83.2 billion on its military in 2025, compared with a much smaller defence budget of the UAE.

Amid such a complex landscape, Khaled is emerging as one of the men Abu Dhabi is turning to. He is meeting the region's and world's most important leaders, and overseeing some of Abu Dhabi's most important economic institutions.

Let's first look at the crown princes of neighbouring countries and the very different inheritances they are set to receive.

HOW KHALED AND MBS INHERIT VERY DIFFERENT GULF POWERS

Khaled's rise comes at a time when a new generation of Gulf royals is taking on greater power. The most prominent example is MBS, who became Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince in 2017, aged 32. But the nature of the two princes' inheritances is very different.

MBS sits at the top of the House of Saud, one of the world's largest ruling families, which has ruled Saudi Arabia since the kingdom was founded in 1932. He also presides over the Middle East's largest Arab economy, with massive oil reserves, a large population, and the two holiest sites in Islam.

Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power was also marked by controversial moves within the Saudi royal family. In 2017, Saudi authorities detained dozens of princes, officials and businessmen at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh as part of what the government described as an "anti-corruption campaign." In 2020, former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz were also detained.

The moves helped MBS remove or sideline potential rivals as he consolidated power around himself.

Khaled's position is very different. He is heir to Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. Under MBZ, Abu Dhabi increased its overseas investments and broadened its economic and diplomatic ties with countries including the US, China and India.

Riyadh is now spending heavily on diversifying its economy, attracting global companies and developing tourism, putting pressure on the UAE's long-established position in those sectors. The rivalry has also been visible in foreign policy. Saudi and the UAE have differed on Yemen, Iran, Sudan and other regional issues.

This is the situation Khaled is now inheriting.

HOW KHALED WAS PREPARED FOR POWER

In 2023, UAE President MBZ appointed Khaled Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, putting him at the centre of the emirate's government. Kheled also chairs the executive committee of the Abu Dhabi Oil Company (ADNOC), Abu Dhabi's state oil company, and has taken on a bigger role in the emirate's sovereign wealth and investments.

Khaled is also the chairman of L'IMAD, a new investment platform with about $300 billion in assets. L'IMAD has also partnered with BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, Singapore's Temasek and ADNOC on a $30 billion investment plan for Central Asia and the Middle East, reported British daily, The Financial Times, in June.

That gives Khaled a role in one of Abu Dhabi's biggest sources of power — its wealth.

Khaled's growing role in global finance has also brought him into major deals outside the Gulf.

The Financial Times reported that L'IMAD was being used to back Paramount's bid for Warner Bros Discovery, the US media giant behind major film and television businesses. The deal shows how Abu Dhabi is using its vast financial resources to gain a foothold in major global industries.

Saif al-Darei, an Emirati writer and analyst on Gulf affairs, highlighted the significance of the deal in a post on X

"Abu Dhabi just made a massive power move in Hollywood. Led by Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, [the] UAE's Lamaad is set to acquire a roughly 13% stake in Warner Bros. Discovery. This follows the US Department of Justice's approval of the Paramount merger, heavily backed by the Emirati powerhouse. From global tech and space to shaping the future of global entertainment and media—this is the UAE Model in full effect."

The Financial Times also quoted a finance executive as saying Khaled's importance to global finance had "grown exponentially" in recent months because of his role in sovereign wealth.

His appointment was also seen as a part of a wider change in Abu Dhabi's leadership structure.

When MBZ made Khaled crown prince, he gave important roles to his brothers. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed became deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed became UAE vice-president and chairman of Mubadala, the state-owned global investment firm.

This helped keep the ruling family involved in the emirate's most important institutions.

Khaled has been given more responsibility, but his uncles remain powerful. Tahnoon, for example, still holds major security and economic roles, including at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Holding Company.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen of the Baker Institute told the Financial Times that the arrangement was part of a long-term strategy to give Khaled more responsibility while preventing competing centres of power from emerging around him.

"It's probably a long-term strategy at play, which is to empower Sheikh Khaled domestically, give him the extensive portfolio of financial and economic responsibilities, and avoid any situation where there could be competing power blocs with any of his uncles," Ulrichsen was quoted as saying by Financial Times.

However, Khaled's preparation for power also began well before he became crown prince. In 2010, MBZ gave him his first major international assignment, involving a dispute over BlackBerry's encrypted data and Abu Dhabi's security concerns. Khaled later joined the Abu Dhabi Executive Council in 2019.

Khaled's rise, therefore, has been gradual. He is now taking charge of institutions and responsibilities that have been built up over many years. Khaled's presence at the Brics Summit showed this transition playing out on the diplomatic stage. His meetings and handshakes with PM Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian showed Abu Dhabi putting its next-generation leader at the centre of high-stakes diplomatic relationships.

The question now is whether Khaled can turn his father's UAE into a durable power for the next generation.

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