How Dubai Billionaires Spend Their Billions

Are you ready to pay 15 million for a license plate? How about 1.3 million for a toilet? If you are, then you will feel right at home. Welcome to Dubai. Indeed, the people here know how to live large. Well, at least the wealthy. But with a royal family like the Al Maktoums to set the standard, what do you expect? And believe me, they are a tough act to follow. I'm not even talking about their gorgeous $500 million mansion or their $2 billion yacht collection. Even when looking at their pets, you can see why Dubai's richest are so crazy about animals. And I'm not talking about camels and horses, though the family does have inspiring herds of both. Actually, Sheikh Mohammed fell in love with horses ever since he was a young boy. He'd spend most of his time on horseback and became a well-rounded equestrian. His offspring took that to another level as Crown Prince Hamdan, better known as Faza, won several international equestrian games. Needless to say, the family spends a fortune on their horses. Some statistics suggest that they pay more than $5 million monthly to satisfy their horses. I mean, look at these stables. Most people don't live in such luxury, but the domestic horse market is not enough for such vast love. The Dubai royal family invested more than $45 million in acquiring the biggest horse breeding operation in the United Kingdom, Dallam Hall Stud. Since they bought it, the entire area of Newmarket became synonymous with horseback riding and earned the name Home of Horse Racing. Still, horses are not the only animals put on a pedestal by the royal family. Camels are also looked at as a prized possession, especially those worth more than $2.7 million. That's right. Prince Hamdan once bought a camel worth $2.7 million and gave another $2.8 million to 15 others. Now you might be wondering whether Hamdan is ready for the loony bin. But no. Actually, camels are a symbol of nobility around these parts. So owning the best camel is a statement of your wealth and royalty. Thus, the Dubai royal family organized a... Wait for it... Camel beauty pageant. A splendid idea indeed. In camel terms, this one's quite the looker. And that's why it's here, taking part in Saudi Arabia's Camel Beauty Contest, where the pageant queens of the desert are judged on the size of their lips, cheeks, heads and knees. Rumors say the pageant alone cost around $5 million and the winner received a hefty price. Not the camel, the owner. After the pageant, Fazza approached the owner of the most beautiful camel and offered $2.7 million to own it. And can you blame him? Just look at this smile. So captivating. So beautiful. So camel-ish. While the family truly loves ungulates of all kinds and the prince shares an occasional kiss with some of them, those are not the only animals in their life. Fazza spends millions obtaining and caring for rare and astonishing animals. His personal zoo is a place of wonders with exotic mammals, rare birds and more. Among his many, many animal friends, three in particular have a special place in his heart. His albino lion Frosty, his white tiger Elsa and a pony named Joy. It's nice to see the king of the jungle like Frosty actually live as lavishly as a king. Still, no zoo is completed without an elephant. So Fazza took care of it by buying six baby elephants and one adult female. The price of the purchase from Zimbabwe is not disclosed but based on black market prices, some estimates suggest Fazza paid nearly $12 million for the purchase. Of course, all ultra-wealthy Arabs in the country followed suit. Thus, seeing a sheik cruising around with a leopard or someone walking their pet tiger on the beach wasn't rare. Unfortunately for those fat cats, since 2017, owning exotic animals and walking them around is strictly regulated. You need a permit and a sanctuary where the animals can live and the population of Dubai can be secured. Thus, the exotic animal craze is a bit less trendy these days. However, none of these animals can even come close to his fascination with falcons. After all, the falcon is Dubai's national animal and unsurprisingly, the majestic birds have a tight hold on the prince's heart and he spends millions to take care of and train them. Fazza was prepared to pay the mind-altering $15 million to buy a falcon training facility in England. The owner, however, turned out to be even crazier about the birds and turned down the offer. A compromise was reached in which the owner would retain the position of his facility but Hamdan would be the sole client. Now that's what I call a great deal! Well, Fazza may be mad about animals but even he can't beat the enthusiasm of an unnamed Saudi prince who went far and beyond to accommodate his beloved falcons. Yes, Dubai offers luxuries to all rich people, not only the royal family. This unnamed Saudi prince was traveling for a vacation in Dubai and he decided to take his falcon collection with him, probably for emotional support. So he bought all of his 80 falcons, first-class tickets for an Emirates flight. Needless to say, this came to a hefty six-figure price as a first-class seat on an Emirates flight is in the thousands. This turns out to be not that unusual. Well, not the number but transporting falcons as a whole. Dubai has the only high-end falcon hospital in the Middle East and I'd also guess the world. Thus, most of the high-end airlines in the region offer falcon transportation. Qatar Airlines offers up to six passenger sets for falcons. But as UAE's national bird is the falcon, Emirates Airlines has no such limits. So if you have about a hundred falcons and want them to visit the vet, why not just book an Emirates flight to Dubai? It will only cost you several hundred thousand dollars. I mean, have you heard about a hospital dedicated to the care of falcons elsewhere? It's almost like having a solid gold, diamond-encrusted toilet. It's there, but who the hell needs one when a regular toilet will do the job? Oh wait, in Dubai, you can actually buy one for 1.3 million dollars. In 2019, this solid gold toilet received a Guinness World Record certificate for having the most diamonds on a toilet. To be precise, 40,815 diamonds make the seat a sparkling wonderland. That's how you crap in style. This Aranshum jewelry is precisely what you need for your children's upbringing. After all, you don't want to make them functioning members of society now, do you? They should remain as spoiled as you wish you were back in the day. Yes, Dubai has a true epidemic of spoiled children these days. Actually, many tourists are outraged by just how entitled these little brats are. Worst of all, their parents do nothing to control them. This problem is relatively new as not many people were so well-off a generation ago. So today, children just assume that everything is theirs to have. Fad Al Saud, who, as you can guess, is not precisely from Dubai, is the perfect example of this trend. He spent 17 million dollars on his graduation in Disneyland. Now, you may think he spent weeks there, but no. The prince was visiting Paris for two days. So he booked entire park areas just for himself and his 60 guests. I'm not quite sure how this celebrates your maturity, but hey, I'm not the one who grew up without any rules. Indeed, there are no rules for the snotty little brats and no one to enforce them. They become arrogant and entitled, which is often transferred beyond borders. For example, Manchester, the industrial heartland of the British Empire, the home of the Industrial Revolution, is now the playground of the richest Arab sheikhs, especially those from Dubai. They go there during the summer to escape the heat in their home country. And while there, they splurge on luxury shopping. An entire industry is dedicated to accommodating their needs and its market cap is well above 1 billion dollars. Moreover, due to the high demand for luxurious rooms in Manchester hotels during the summer months, prices can go up to several tens of thousands of dollars. But that's not all, as all these purchases have to be stored somewhere. Many Arab sheikhs rent a second and even a third room just to store their new belongings. A Manchester hotel owner even told the BBC that one sheikh rented three additional rooms on top of the entire storage area of the hotel. Though the price was not revealed, with regular prices being 180 pounds or 230 USD per night, you can imagine how much he spent on top of his stay. Well, at least he went for regular rooms as storage. He might have wanted the presidential apartment to store his jewelry. Do you think that's obscene? Well, wait until you see what these people do when it's time for a wedding. Even when outside the UAE, they spare no expense to show how much they love their children. So, when two ultra-rich clan heirs get engaged, the wedding is bound to be a spectacle. I guess the trend started back in the late 70s when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum decided to tie the knot for the first time. The venue cost more than 100 million dollars as it took place in Dubai World Trade Center, which was specially modified for the event. The bride came in a golden carriage and was clothed in a dress made of pure gold and embroidered with diamonds and other precious stones. The dress's exact cost is unknown, but it is rumored to have cost several million dollars. Moreover, the bride and groom exchanged gifts of precious jewelry as part of the wedding ceremony. The total value of these gifts was close to 10 million dollars as was the entertainment, food and drinks cost. So today, rich Dubai sheikhs are trying to recapture this glamour. Not that they will, but they can always try. Still, a wedding is only as glamorous as the presents. And gold is the traditional gift there. So can you imagine forgetting to get the bride and groom a wedding present only to see the last jewelry store closed right in front of your eyes? Thankfully, Dubai is ready for that eventuality. After all, there's always a birthday, an anniversary or something that slips your mind. So of course, having an alternative is a good thing. A gold vending machine seems like a good solution. This fancy gold dispenser is actually positioned in one of the most expensive hotels in the world. The Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace Hotel. The rooms are predominantly gold decorated. Still, if you need a bit of extra gold to put on your table, you can just go to the vending machine and purchase as much gold as you want. Along with the gold bars, there are also golden coins and other gold jewelry. So if you have forgotten your child's birthday, you can always get them a surprise golden coin. Still, it's much better if you think ahead of their birthday and actually get them some entertainment. For example, their favorite star. Every one of us has a celebrity crush. The difference between us and the wealthiest people in Dubai is that they can actually afford to hire their crush to perform at their parties. Yes, I also don't know what they find in her, but hey, as long as that would make her happy, why not pay 10 million dollars and ask Taylor to sing your daughter happy birthday on her special day? Or just hire Tom Holland to come swinging in as Spider-Man on your son's birthday. This is actually a pretty common practice among Dubai billionaires, as they often find using Spotify much more complicated than just hiring the star to come and play for them live. There is no better example of this trend than Rashid Belhassa, better known as Monkey Kicks. As the son of the richest UAE businessman, he started inviting celebrities to his home from an early age. When he was just 10, he hung out with Cristiano Ronaldo and Khloe Kardashian. Later, he started inviting all kinds of stars like Rihanna, Jackie Chan, Mohamed Salah, Messi, Pogba, Rita Ora, and even Floyd Money Mayweather. As you can imagine, flying all these celebrities to the UAE and back in utmost luxury is not the cheapest thing. With this kind of money, imagine what cars he owns. Moreover, imagine how he maintains them. I mean, he probably just throws them away when the oil is due for a change. This might be an exaggeration, but Dubai truly has a problem with abandoned ultra-luxurious cars. When did you last drive to the airport and forget your car on the way back? For the ultra-rich in Dubai, this is a common occurrence. In fact, I'd bet they're treating their cars like burner phones. Who needs to remember when they parked when you can get a brand new ultra-luxurious car around the corner? Jokes aside, Dubai is running out of space to store all these abandoned luxurious cars. And they are not Soviet relics. There are luxurious Mercedes AMGs, BMWs, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsches, and even Rolls-Royce in those parks. As many as 3,000 luxury cars are abandoned annually in Dubai. With all these cars lying around, one would wonder why doesn't the local police just use it? Well, compared to what local police officers cruise in, these abandoned cars are just junk. I mean, here in America, it's a pretty rare sight to see a cop in a sports car or any other car outside the standard patrol car. Well, Dubai is not much different. The coppers there also predominantly use the standard issue patrol car. Only theirs is a Bugatti Veyron. There's a reason behind this and corruption is not it. A few years ago, the Sheikh and his advisors came to the conclusion that police can't inspire respect and obedience in the younger, spoiled generation if they drive old clunkers. They need to be on par with whom they are going to stop and check. So a fleet of Bugatti Veyrons was ordered for the Dubai police. This came with a few side effects. Firstly, Guinness awarded the Dubai police as the fastest one in the world. Secondly, the application to the Dubai police force quadrupled once the Bugattis were introduced. Now that's how to inspire trust and create law-abiding citizens. Well, yes, most of the applicants weren't precisely from the wealthiest families. I mean, when you have a diamond-encrusted and gold-plated car at your disposal, why would you switch that for the dull white and green-coloured Bugatti? Dubai's ultra-rich truly have one inspiring car park filled with golden, silver and diamond cars. First and foremost, of course, is the royal family. The royal garage is full of automotive masterpieces. But naturally, at the forefront lies the golden collection. Among them are the $2.2 million Devil 16, designed especially for Sheikh Mohammed, his $4 million Bugatti Veyron and Prince Hamdan's $8.2 million golden Rolls-Royce Phantom, a $7.5 million golden Lamborghini Aventador, a $5.8 million golden Porsche 918 Spyder and a $3.2 million golden Range Rover Vogue. But of course, that's not all. On the streets, you can see a plethora of dashing sports cars. Among them is the solid gold Lamborghini Aventador, worth $7.5 million. This is not even a full car, but a one-eighth scale model created by German engineer Robert Galpin. 1,100 pounds of gold were used for this beauty. Still, if you want to ride your Lamborghini, solid gold is not the best metal for the job. So, Turki bin Abdullah, a Saudi prince who spends most of his time in Dubai, opted for the next best thing. A gold-plated Lamborghini Aventador, worth just under $4 million. And of course, the white gold Mercedes SLR, worth approximately $2.5 million. This car is often seen dashing on Dubai's main boulevard. It actually has become an attraction for tourists. Of course, having such an extraordinary car demands having an extraordinary license plate. And as those are just a few, Dubai's wealthiest often pay three to four times more than their cars for rare numbers or combinations. For example, Arif Ahmad Al-Zarouni, one of the most prominent business people in the UAE, bought his license plate for $5 million. Well, having a license plate with just a single one is definitely a worthy price. Now, many would think that Arif simply took the number as an investment. But no, Arif always dreamed of being on the top. And since the Al-Zarouni family will likely never taste the royal life, having the one license plate number seems like a good consolation prize. Still, that's not even the most expensive license plate ever bought in Dubai. In a dazzling display of extravagance, a license plate in Dubai just clinched the title of the world's most expensive, fetching a jaw-dropping $15 million at auction. Bearing the elite combo P7. This all-white vanity plate is not your ordinary car accessory. While the identity of the lucky winner remains a mystery, the hefty sum is channeled toward a noble cause. The One Billion Meals Endowment, fighting global food insecurity. In Dubai's gold-clad city, where the ultra-rich flaunt status with flair, dropping fortunes on license plates is not just a road trip accessory, but a bold statement of wealth. I guess when you own a $15 million plate, you have a mini heart attack each time you go through a puddle. For this money, it would be a sacrilege to scratch it or even spray it with water. That's probably why the newer generation that prefers amphibious cars is not too keen on joining those auctions. Yes, amphibious cars are the new craze among those spoiled rich kids I've already mentioned. Ever since Prince Hamdan bought his first six ultra-luxurious amphibian cars for about $1 million in total, the wealthy offspring of Dubai's richest instantly followed suit. Now the beaches are filled with all sorts of James Bond-looking cars that turn into motorboats as soon as they've hit the sea. Yes, the sons of the wealthiest live their lives to the fullest both on the road and at sea. But what about their daughters? Let's not forget the UAE and Dubai are conservative Muslim country and city. And that's not the best place to be a woman. You can't drive, you can't go out alone, and while your father is trying to spoil you rotten, he still can't buy you that convertible Porsche covered in pink diamonds. On the other hand, Nope, you're not watching a sci-fi movie and this is definitely not one of those technology prediction videos. Dubai is actually home to the first flying cars in the world. This autonomous air taxi is perfect for the sheikahs and the princesses in the country as it's entirely self-driven and can get from the palace to the shopping center without the need for the princess to set foot outside their father's home. Still, if that's too modernistic for them or if they suffer from air sickness, there is another solution. The super bus. Indeed, Dubai has taken transportation to new heights. Now the ultra-rich can tag along without even compromising their comfort. Well, when you have three wives and 12 children, you're bound to get something that can take you all to your ultra-luxurious yacht. The $18 million super bus constructed by Dutch astronaut Wupo Ockels is the best solution. This 23-seater ultra-luxurious limo is not only a seven-star hotel on wheels, it can also outrun anyone on the highway. With a maximum speed of 155 miles per hour, it can give even the Dubai police a run for their money. Now, do you understand why the Bugatti Veyrons are a necessity? Still, luxurious cars are nothing if you don't have a place to go. Don't worry though, the ultra-rich in Dubai have plenty of sports to show off their immense wealth. They are not that different from the ultra-rich here. They enjoy the finer things in life, drive fast cars and play tennis. Not only that, but they play it to the extreme. The world's highest tennis court is actually in Dubai. The symbol of the city, the Burj Al Arab Hotel, hosts this marvellous designer solution and has even hosted some friendly games between some of the best players in the world. The tennis court itself is actually a helipad, but when it's not in use, guests of the hotel can enjoy a nice game of tennis at 650 feet above the ground. Still, it is a good thing that the court is above water. Otherwise, the golden and diamond cars down on the ground would have felt the gravity of having such an outlandish display of wealth. Hopefully, the ball boys and girls are well paid as they have to run and retrieve the balls from the gulf, dry them up and get them back up. Still, tennis is not the best sport when it's about 110 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Skiing seems like a much more pleasurable experience at these temperatures. No, I didn't have a stroke. Dubai actually offers an indoor ski resort for its rich citizens. Ski Dubai may sound like a cruel joke to the locals who fry in the summer heat since their country is in the middle of a desert, but actually, it's a 22,500 square meters indoor ski resort filled with artificial snow. The entire place has to maintain a constant temperature of minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. So take that, Mother Earth. The resort itself is a true marvel of modern technology. It offers a 300-foot tall snowy mountain with five runs. The place actually has the first ever indoor black diamond run. The only thing I'm wondering is how you don't get a heart attack when you get from 110 degrees outside to minus 30 degrees inside. But hey, when life gives you sandy dunes, you can always make a temperature-controlled indoor city. Oh, wait, that's not how the saying goes, is it? Regardless, Dubai has followed this ancient old saying to the letter. And since there are a lot of dunes here, they built one truly magnificent temperature-controlled indoor city so the ultra-rich can stay refreshed during the hot summer months. I mean, why spend millions in Manchester when you can spend them in Dubai, right? It's a brilliant economic decision when you look at it. This refreshing escape from the harsh realities of the outside world will offer everything a rich person could desire. Short of a breath of fresh air, of course. Still, when the breath of fresh air is actually coming from Satan's pit, you might do without it. Marvel at the abundance of shopping opportunities where you can indulge in the latest in consumerist delights without ever having to brave the elements. And when hunger pangs strike, feast on a variety of culinary creations, each as bland and uninspired as the last. As you can imagine, this behemoth will consume as much electricity as the entire UAE. But hey, when we're talking about the comfort of the ultra-rich, burning three times more fossil fuel every day is well worth it. Who cares if the weather outside reaches 150 degrees Fahrenheit? Inside this megadome, the temperature and humidity are always perfect. And since this is not enough of a middle finger to Mother Earth, the ultra-rich in Dubai actually created their own man-made islands, where some of the best and most expensive hotels are situated. The Palm Jumeirah is not only the most luxurious place on Earth, but also the biggest artificial island ever created. This 48 million square mile project is bigger than Paris and accommodates over 1 million people in ultra-luxurious settings. No wonder the Dubai royal family paid more than 112 billion dollars to construct it. The palm shape of the island is not a fancy designer solution, but rather as a way to make as many beachfront ultra-luxurious villas as possible. On top of it is the largest hotel in Dubai, Atlantis The Palm. Now you might think that the Dubai ultra-rich don't care at all about the environment. But may I remind you of their love for animals? A falcon-only hospital? Remember? But that's not all. There is also a turtle hospital. That's actually very sweet and thankfully it's not a joke. The turtle hospital is located in one of the most luxurious hotels in the city. It's a refreshing sight seeing the ultra-rich using their money for something other than dipping everything they own in gold. Speaking of dipping everything in gold, several thousand miles to the east there is another king whose luxurious lifestyle knows no bounds. The Sultan of Brunei is among Dubai's most loyal visitors and seeing his taste, that's hardly a surprise. Care to learn about his extravagant lifestyle? Just check out this video next.