Mideast Money

Saudi Pivot, Gulf AI Bets, and the World’s Hottest Real Estate Market

The strategic shifts and defining deals that shaped Mideast Money in 2025 — and the themes to watch in the new year.

The Doha Corniche.Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

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By Adveith Nair

December 29, 2025 at 12:09 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Welcome to the Mideast Money newsletter, I’m Adveith Nair. Join us each week as my team and I chronicle the intersection of money and power in a region that’s become one of the most influential in global finance. You can sign up here.

This special edition looks back at a busy year in which we covered an important pivot in Saudi Arabia, the many faces of Abu Dhabi’s trillions, and the push by Qatar and Kuwait to become more significant centers of finance. The hedge fund rush into the UAE remained a key theme, and property values continued to surge in Dubai. The region’s push into AI reverberated globally, and Gulf wealth funds once again acted as the world’s bankers. It’s been 18 months since we rolled out this newsletter: Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!