Abu Dhabi’s financial hub ADGM says entities licensed there now hold more than $100 billion in AI-focused investment, as it looks to draw more fund managers by dangling proximity to the UAE capital’s prodigious coffers and appetite for cutting-edge technology. Abu Dhabi tech vehicle MGX — which closed its first fund in July at $49 billion — is the largest, according to ADGM. The white-collar worker hub grew 34% to around a headcount of 50,000, as assets under management rose 54% year-on-year. Bain Capital, Blue Owl Capital, and Man Group are among the firms to expand in the financial center so far this year.
To meet rising demand for offices, a massive expansion of ADGM is underway, on the scale of the Hudson Yards development in New York City, spearheaded by Aldar and Mubadala and costing 60 billion dirhams ($16.3 billion).