Martin Edelman

Martin Edelman is a real estate lawyer who serves as advisor to the ruling royal UAE family.[1][2] He is a close advisor to UAE royal Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.[1][3] He works for the law firm Paul Hastings.[4]

Early life

He was raised in a Jewish family in Westchester County, New York.[2] His father was a Russian immigrant to the United States.[2] Edelman studied at Princeton University in the 1960s.[2] He studied at Columbia Law School.[2] He was drafted and served multiple tours in the Vietnam War over a three-year period.[2]

Career

Upon returning to New York, Edelman became a high-profile lawyer in real estate.[2]

Edelman has since 2002 cultivated relationships in the UAE.[1] Reflecting on his ties to the UAE government, Edelman has said, "That dramatically changed my life. I’ve gotten to do everything I ever thought I wanted to do and then 4,000 things that I never thought about before."[2]

Edelman played a key role in a secret 2025 deal where Tahnoun's company G42 purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a Trump family business, with the Trump administration subsequently overriding national security concerns to approve the sale of advanced AI chips to the UAE.[1]

Edelman is general counsel at G42 and an advisor at Royal Group, two companies owned by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.[1] He is a board member of Manchester City FC and helped the Abu Dhabi government buy Manchester City in 2008.[5][2]

Edelman was named by the Donald Trump administration as a member on the executive board to oversee Gaza.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The 'Spy Sheikh' Taking the AI World by Storm". The Wall Street Journal. 26 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Abu Dhabi's 'Man in Manhattan' Is Key to Unlocking Trump Deals". Bloomberg News. 2025.
  3. ^ "Anatomy of Two Giant Deals: The U.A.E. Got Chips. The Trump Team Got Crypto Riches". The New York Times. 2025-09-15. ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. ^ "How a real estate mogul became Trump's Middle East point man". The Australian. 2024.
  5. ^ Belson, Ken (2013-05-25). "The Power Behind Manchester City Is Content to Stay Out of Sight in New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  6. ^ Magid, Jacob (2026-01-29). "Board of Peace proposal appears to relegate Gaza panel with Turkey, Qatar to 'advisory' role". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909.