UAE real estate magnate Hussain Sajwani is investing billions into data centres, aiming for global AI leadership. Forbes lists him as one of the richest Arabs with a net worth of $15.3 billion.
Sajwani’s Instagram feed features Trump, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. He sees “huge” potential in data amid soaring computing power demand.
The idea for his data centre business came during Covid lockdowns when he spent hours on Zoom calls. Sajwani has earmarked sites across 13 countries to build a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts at an estimated cost of $66 billion.
Sajwani’s DAMAC Properties has built and plans to construct 60,000 properties in the UAE and other countries. He opened Dubai’s Trump International Golf Club in 2017 and announced a $20 billion investment in US data centres alongside newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
Despite drone attacks during regional conflicts, Sajwani remains undeterred. Five hyperscalers have signed on as clients for DAMAC’s data centres, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Sajwani aims to outstrip Equinix, the world’s largest data centre provider with over 280 sites. He envisions DAMAC Digital surpassing its property arm to become the top company in his empire.