The secret sale: 49% of World Liberty Financial to Abu Dhabi's 'Spy Sheikh'

Days before the inauguration, the Trump family agreed to sell 49% of World Liberty Financial to Aryam Investment 1, a vehicle backed by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan - the UAE's national security adviser, Abu Dhabi royal, and controller of the G42 tech empire - for roughly half a billion dollars, with $187 million paid upfront to Trump family entities. Eric Trump signed. The deal was kept secret for a year: WLF disclosed neither the sale nor that two Tahnoun lieutenants, G42 general counsel Martin Edelman and G42 CEO Peng Xiao, had been seated on its board.

The Wall Street Journal broke the story on February 1, 2026 ('“Spy Sheikh” Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company'), with the New York Times confirming that month. Trump's own June 2026 financial disclosure then put a hard number on it: his entities DT Marks Defi and DT Marks SC realized nearly $263 million in net proceeds from the sale.

The significance is retroactive as well as prospective: throughout 2025 - as Tahnoun's MGX routed $2 billion through WLF's USD1 stablecoin and as the administration weighed UAE access to advanced AI chips - a foreign government's security chief silently co-owned the president's crypto company. Legal experts told the Journal the arrangement is a potential Foreign Emoluments Clause violation.

Reported (WSJ/NYT investigations; realized proceeds confirmed by OGE disclosure)

Contested legality (Foreign Emoluments questions raised by legal experts)

~$500 million for the 49% stake; $187M reported upfront; $263M in net proceeds realized per Trump's 2026 disclosure

Agreed days before 2025-01-20 inauguration; revealed 2026-02-01 (WSJ); proceeds disclosed 2026-06-30