# Westbrooke Associates

EIS | SEIS Investment Opportunities

- Site: https://westbrookeassociates.com/

## My sister moved in with our widowed mother, 78, and says she deserves the family home. Is she right?

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/my-sister-moved-in-with-our-widowed-mother-78-and-says-she-deserves-the-family-home-is-she-right/
- Published: 2026-10-12T12:15:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

“The house is worth $925,000 and mom owns it outright. She also has $480,000 in 
investments.”

## ‘I feel like a loser’: My stock portfolio is swinging wildly. Is it finally time to worry?

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/i-feel-like-a-loser-my-stock-portfolio-is-swinging-wildly-is-it-finally-time-to-worry/
- Published: 2026-10-12T12:15:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

“I presume these are sophisticated investors taking a profit.”

## This five-star money manager shares three stock picks, including one betting on dying American malls

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/this-five-star-money-manager-shares-three-stock-picks-including-one-betting-on-dying-american-malls/
- Published: 2026-10-12T11:34:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

One highly rated fund manager shares some top picks, including two names many U.
S. investors will be unfamiliar with.

## Mired in their worst losing streak in years, small caps could be the best way for investors to play crucial CPI data

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/mired-in-their-worst-losing-streak-in-years-small-caps-could-be-the-best-way-for-investors-to-play-crucial-cpi-data/
- Published: 2026-10-12T11:30:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

Stuart Kaiser, of Citigroup, recommends buying iShares Russell 2000 exchange-traded
fund call options before the consumer-price index for September is released on Wednesday.

## Bank earnings to shed the first light on how higher yields are affecting the economy

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/bank-earnings-to-shed-the-first-light-on-how-higher-yields-are-affecting-the-economy/
- Published: 2026-10-12T11:07:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

The big banks kick off earnings season on Tuesday, to provide a first read on the
health of the economy in a rising-yield environment.

## Live a little: how to cash in on the “experience economy”

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/live-a-little-how-to-cash-in-on-the-experience-economy/
- Published: 2026-10-12T07:00:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

The rise of the so-called “experience economy” offers a welcome alternative to our
increasingly digitised life. It promises[ highly curated, in-person experiences](https://moneyweek.com/investments/retail-stocks/profit-from-global-leisure-travel-boom)
offering the sense of community and direct physical engagement with the world that
has been stripped from the daily rhythms of life.

It is a truism that people’s lives are increasingly digitalised, but the data still
retains the capacity to shock. UK adults spent 4.5 hours per day online in 2025,
according to Ofcom. For 18-to-24-year-olds, the figure was six hours and 20 minutes,
mostly on their smartphones. And it’s not as though we are spending these digitalised
lives with others. A significant number of people work remotely, at least some of
the time. Over 40% of UK workers spend part of their week working from home.

More unsettlingly, when we are online, we often consume content that isn’t even 
generated by a fellow human being. The marketing platform Ahrefs recently conducted
a remarkable study showing that almost 75% of new websites contained significant
AI-generated content. The machines aren’t just delivering entertainment; they’re
creating it.

But as investors, we know that when something becomes abundant – screen time, digital
content, isolation – something else becomes scarcer, and, typically, more valuable.
Today, some of that scarcity seems to be migrating towards the experience economy.

An “experience” might be a trip to a concert or a sports match. It might be dining
at a restaurant whose kitchen offers a special menu, or taking a trip to a beach
with the softest sand and the bluest water. This isn’t new. Business strategists
Joseph Pine and James Gilmore coined the phrase “experience economy” in 1998, with
the idea that companies could command pricing power through events that engaged 
consumers on a memorable, emotional level. But the forces that created the need 
for such an economy have only become stronger over the last quarter of a century.

## What is the experience economy?

The evidence for an experiential boom in spending is already widespread. In its 
2026 State of the Consumer report, consultancy McKinsey highlighted that the global
experiences market between 2023 and 2025 grew more than three times faster than 
spending on non-essential goods. Mastercard recently found that 88% of British consumers
would be happy to redirect their spending on things towards experiences.

Michelle Evans, data group Euromonitor’s Global Lead on Retail & Digital Consumer
Insights, says there is a broad rotation among consumers from “owning more to experiencing
more”. The trend has been building for over a decade, but has accelerated since 
Covid.

It seems to be a reaction to digital saturation: “In an increasingly digital world,
consumers are placing greater importance on experiences that improve wellbeing, 
create memories, strengthen relationships and feel genuinely human.” And young consumers,
those most exposed to digital lives, are leading the rotation.

Live music and sports are among the purest embodiments of these experiential urges.
Think of [Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour](https://moneyweek.com/investments/taylor-swifts-net-worth),
the 149-concert extravaganza in 2023 and 2024, which became an economic phenomenon
in its own right. It was the most financially successful tour of all time, generating
over $2 billion in direct box-office sales, more than twice its nearest rival.

## How Swifties are fuelling the experience economy

![Taylor Swift performs onstage during ](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VfiQg78ZmnyLSrKtsgVyXW-
1920-80.jpg)

(Image credit: Gregor Fischer/TAS24 / Contributor)

Twenty-two million people joined the virtual queue to buy tickets for Swift’s Singapore
concert, almost four times the country’s population. The vast majority of these 
would-be attendees were planning to fly in from overseas; they were going on a musical
pilgrimage. The quasi-religious nature of this fandom is underlined again by the
fact that in Philadelphia over 20,000 ticketless fans stood outside the stadium 
during the concerts, night after night, just to be physically close to the Swiftian
phenomenon.

A similar devotion characterises live sports. According to entertainment analytics
firm [Two Circles](https://twocircles.com/gb/articles/uk-attendance-review-2025-edition/),
79.4 million fans attended ticketed professional sports events in the UK in 2025,
1.7 million more than the year before, and this despite a 5% increase in ticket 
prices. Attendance levels are far above pre-Covid figures.

When the Premier League first started, in the early 1990s, stadium utilisation rates
sat at 70%. In the 2024-2025 season, that had risen to 98.8%. There is a sense in
which attending a concert, or a Premier League match, is not just entertainment;
it is a way for people to forge their identities and feel part of something larger
than themselves.

This matters economically. AI may be able to commoditise digital content, but it
cannot replicate the experience of standing next to 60,000 people at Anfield. “Travel,
wellness, live events and community-based experiences all benefit from the fact 
that they are difficult to replicate digitally and often become more valuable as
consumers spend more of their lives online,” says Evans.

Economist Alex Imas has argued that as AI makes some forms of production abundant,
scarcity will not disappear, but will relocate towards what he calls the “relational
sector”, where the human element itself contributes to the value of the product.
As investors, we want to be in the businesses of monetising this relocated scarcity.

There are several ways we can invest in the experiential economy. **Live Nation 
Entertainment **[**(NYSE: LYV)** ](https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNYS:LYV)is the world’s
largest live-entertainment company, operating concert promotion, venues and ticketing
services. It is positioned between consumers and the increasingly valuable experiences
they are seeking. Concerns over competitive practices have dogged the stock. A federal
jury earlier this year found it operated a monopoly, and it is unclear how this 
will be rectified.

## The experience economy is safe from AI

However, the underlying business, protected by exclusive, multi-year venue and artist
contracts, remains structurally difficult even for AI to disintermediate. The extraordinary
demand for the sort of experiences it facilitates was illustrated by the collapse
of Ticketmaster’s system under the weight of 3.5 billion ticket enquiries for Taylor
Swift’s Eras Tour.

**Airbnb**[** (Nasdaq: ABNB)**](https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/abnb),
the world’s largest platform for booking alternative accommodation, is another interesting
play on the experiential economy. The company has a valuable set of inventory consisting
of millions of homes across the world, which it has spent almost 20 years building.
While its product (accommodation) isn’t scarce, Airbnb’s value lies in facilitating
the increasingly valued experience of global travel, taking a healthy commission
in the process.

A third way to play consumers’ strong desire to invest in live experiences is **
TKO Group **[**(NYSE: TKO)**](https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/tko),
a firm roughly split between the UFC, the world’s leading mixed martial-arts business,
and WWE, the dominant player in the world of professional wrestling. These distinct,
but related, businesses are near-monopolies in their respective domains.

TKO Group differs from Airbnb or Live Nation. It is not an intermediary; it owns
the product itself. Live sports are perfectly placed to resist the commoditising
effects of AI. Their essence is that they are unique and occur in real time; even
if you cannot be there in person, you must be sitting in front of a screen as the
event unfolds. The fact that there is no algorithmic substitute for their product
gives them low price sensitivity.

_This article was first published in MoneyWeek’s magazine. Enjoy exclusive early
access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a _
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## It’s time to buy the fallen market darling Judges Scientific

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/its-time-to-buy-the-fallen-market-darling-judges-scientific/
- Published: 2026-10-12T06:00:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

**Judges Scientific**[** (Aim: JDG)** ](https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/JDG/judges-scientific-plc/our-story)
was once a favourite of the London market. Over the years from March 2004 to March
2024, the shares rose 10,300%, compared with a return of just 160% for the FTSE 
All-Share excluding dividends. But since reaching an all-time high in 2024, the 
shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their value. Investors have clearly lost patience
with the group, which once commanded a valuation of 40-plus times forward earnings.
However, the issues seem to be more cyclical than structural, and the underlying
business model is far from broken.

## How Judges Scientific profits from niche industries

Judges Scientific isn’t really one single business. The group operates as a collection
of businesses acquired over time and owned under one holding company. Former CEO
David Cicurel founded and seeded the firm in 2002. It started as an activist investment
company, but shifted direction shortly after its [initial public offering](https://moneyweek.com/investments/what-is-an-ipo)
in 2003 (priced at 95p per share vs the recent peak of 12,000p).

Rather than buying stakes in public equities, Cicurel decided the business would
achieve better returns by acquiring whole companies, particularly small firms serving
a niche in key scientific and testing end markets. The first entity acquired under
this new regime was Fire Testing Technology, which specialises in measuring how 
different materials react to differing levels of fire and heat. With $3 million 
in annual sales and an earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) margin of 25%, the
deal became the blueprint for further acquisitions.

Cicurel and his team continued to build Judges Scientific with similar acquisitions.
The template they used and continued to use hasn’t really changed. Judges acquires
small, usually owner-operated entities, and leaves them to it. It provides the capital
and funding to develop new technology or processes, while the underlying businesses
continue to focus on what they do best – serving their customers with small, but
vital tools and products.

A key metric for the group has always been return on tangible invested capital (
ROTIC), a measure of profit for every £1 invested in tangible assets. For Cicurel,
any business with a ROTIC below 20% was a no-go and, as a group, Judges has tended
to earn a ROTIC of 20%+ across the 23 core businesses it owns today.

## Why is Judges Scientific struggling?

After nearly two decades of near-continuous growth, Judges Scientific’s growth story
stalled in 2024. After its Geotek subsidiary reported delays to a key high-margin
project, sales ended the year 2% lower. In November of that year, the firm also 
issued a profit warning, the only one in its history. Profit fell 21% for the full
year. Still, three new businesses were acquired across the holding firm and via 
subsidiaries as the group continued to execute on its acquisition strategy.

In 2025, clouds continued to gather. These included the hit to global research spending
following US budget cuts, higher operating expenses and a slowdown in orders from
China. North American revenue fell 25% overall. Net profit declined from £22 million
in 2024 to £21 million in 2025. At the end of November 2025, Cicurel also announced
he would step down as head of the business in February 2026, to be succeeded by 
former group business development director Tim Prestidge. The group’s long-standing
CFO also said he would step down in September 2027. Investors didn’t hang around
to find out how Judges would navigate the transition. Stock sales pushed prices 
down 50% from their all-time high in 2024 to the end of 2025.

Unfortunately for the new CEO, the outlook doesn’t look set to improve anytime soon.
Revenue in the first half of the fiscal year fell 21% year on year to £55.7 million,
with adjusted pre-tax profit down 75%. Order intake fell 12% in the first half, 
driven by lower demand from the US and China and softer sales from renewable energy
customers. However, Judges says momentum has picked up since the period ended, with
order intake running just 1% behind the levels of the prior year.

## Judges Scientific is priced for perfection

![Judges Scientific (Aim: JDG)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3hTGL7eK9q7zHrJ9v52ZWB-
1920-80.png)

(Image credit: Future)

Judges Scientific’s underlying business performance tells one story, but it’s also
worth noting that the shares have rerated substantially over the past two years.
In 2024, before the recent sell-off began, the shares traded at a forward [price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of](https://moneyweek.com/investments/investment-strategy/too-embarrassed-to-ask/601872/what-is-a-pe-ratio)
around 43, a premium multiple by any yardstick. After the recent decline, the shares
are trading at just 19 times forward earnings, a much more realistic multiple, but
arguably still a bit high for a zero-growth business.

Still, it’s clear the company is suffering from cyclical, not structural issues.
Underlying end markets are robust and demand for scientific equipment hasn’t vanished.
Granted, it will take time for funding to return to the sector after budget cuts,
but Judges’ underlying businesses are still investing, developing the cutting-edge
kit that’ll be required when funding returns.

What’s more, Judges Scientific has the cash to buy peers that might also be struggling
and don’t have access to the same capital reserves. The group has also extended 
its banking facilities to 2030, which will underpin its ability to keep growing 
through its buy-and-build strategy. Net debt of £41 million is equivalent to roughly
1.9 times [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda)](https://moneyweek.com/investments/investment-strategy/too-embarrassed-to-ask/603546/too-embarrassed-to-ask-what-is-ebitda),
giving headroom for further borrowing. Most of Judges’ end markets are highly fragmented,
served by smaller owner-operated businesses that may not survive alone.

Analysts at Berenberg say the group’s margins will stabilise and sales will improve
next year as funding and spending recover. They’ve then pencilled in a small recovery
in 2028, before growth really returns in 2029. Based on these forecasts, now could
be a good time to start accumulating shares in this one-of-a-kind business, which
is going through a rough patch.

_This article was first published in MoneyWeek’s magazine. Enjoy exclusive early
access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a _
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## Brave new world: what cryptocurrency means for investors

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/brave-new-world-what-cryptocurrency-means-for-investors/
- Published: 2026-10-11T07:00:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

_“CryptoDad” J. Christopher Giancarlo is a lawyer who was chairman of the CFTC between
2017 and 2019. He is the author of _[_CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money_](https://www.amazon.co.uk/CryptoDad-Future-J-Christopher-Giancarlo/dp/111985508X)_,
and his latest book, _[_The New Adventures of CryptoDad: The Quest for Financial Freedom in the 21st Century_](https://coles-books.co.uk/the-new-adventures-of-cryptodad-by-j-christopher-giancarlo-hardback)_,
will be out in October._

**Matthew Partridge: How did you became known as “CryptoDad”?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** When I first became chairman of the [US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)](https://www.cftc.gov/),
I felt that at some stage we would be called upon to make rules for [cryptocurrencies](https://moneyweek.com/investments/bitcoin-crypto/what-is-crypto),
so I worked hard to understand the area, including doing some synthetic bitcoin 
mining in the chairman’s conference room. Around that time, the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange asked us about the listing and trading of crypto derivatives. While we 
gave it additional regulatory scrutiny, we eventually greenlit the launch of bitcoin
futures in the face of furious opposition from Wall Street and global regulators.

I was therefore summoned to justify our decision in front of a US Senate committee.
While I submitted a 60-page briefing document to the committee beforehand, I made
a big show of pushing my papers away and telling the committee that I was approaching
them as both a regulator and a father. I then explained that I had three college-
age students whom I had tried to interest in the stock market. However, all they
wanted to talk about was crypto, and I argued that we owed it to this generation
to build a sensible regulatory regime so that they are not ripped off.

As a result, I was dubbed “CryptoDad” by the industry. The name stuck; I like it
and use it. But what I’m most proud of is that eight years after we gave the go-
ahead to bitcoin futures, that market is deep, liquid and, most importantly, well
regulated by a competent federal regulator. There has been no market manipulation.

**Matthew Partridge: You call Donald Trump the first crypto president. Why?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** Crypto is one example of his administration’s belief
that the only way for the US to cope with its debt mountain is through unleashing
innovation and securing strong economic growth. So crypto is just one technological
innovation, along with nanotechnology, biotechnology, drone technology, rocket technology
and AI, that will help the US grow out of its debt load. Trump was also clever enough
to recognise that the Biden administration had squandered its political advantage
with the crypto generation by suppressing innovation in the field.

**Matthew Partridge: Do you think the crypto industry has enough momentum to withstand
a possible change in the balance of political power?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** The Trump administration’s message to the crypto community
is that if they stand by it, the president will do everything possible to ensure
that even if the Republicans lose the White House in two years’ time, the roots 
of crypto innovation will have become so deep that they can’t be pulled up by the
opposition. Whether this will actually happen is another matter. Still, I would 
say that crypto is no longer a political dividing line between the parties. Data
centres and the development of AI are far more contentious.

**Matthew Partridge: You talk about property records as being one of the “killer
apps” of the crypto revolution. What exactly do you mean by this?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** Property is one of the most analogue financial assets.
For one thing, many property records are still stored on physical paper. During 
the Great Chicago Fire, all the property records were housed in a building that 
went up in flames and it took decades to figure out who owned what. What’s more,
many systems have complicated rules, such as 100-year leaseholds in the United Kingdom.
Even in the US, many property buyers have to take out insurance against ownership
claims from other people. Establishing ownership of the title can be difficult, 
especially the further back you go.

Putting all these records on the blockchain [the digital ledger underpinning a cryptocurrency],
as my county in New Jersey has done, will greatly reduce ambiguity around ownership,
while speeding up the selling process by allowing for easy transfer of titles. It
will even allow people to sell fractional shares in property. Most importantly, 
it will make it much less onerous for people to borrow money against their property,
which will be transformational, given that property is one of the biggest assets
in most people’s portfolios.

**Matthew Partridge: What is the Digital Dollar project?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** When I left government, I believed that eventually
every major economy would put its currency on a blockchain-based system and tokenise
the instrument [making a digital version of its currency, similar to bitcoin]. I
therefore founded the Digital Dollar project to focus on the answers to three questions.

Firstly, how do we future-proof the dollar by putting it on the blockchain? Secondly,
how do we do so while retaining, if not enhancing, the dollar’s status as a reserve
currency? But the third and perhaps most important mission is to make sure that 
the dollar is future-proof and put on a blockchain in a way that secures free enterprise,
free trade and individual privacy.

This is important, as China’s digital yuan is a digital modernisation, but it’s 
also meant to be a way to control its population. The European approach to its digital
euro doesn’t purport to be an instrument of control, but does seem to be a surveillance
tool. Agustin Carstens of the Bank for International Settlements has even talked
about using a digital single currency to track every euro. By contrast, I believe
that government shouldn’t be able to know what you do with your money unless there
is a probability that you’re up to something illegal.

Getting that balance right is crucial, so we founded the Digital Dollar project 
to work on those three elements – and we’ve now secured continuous funding from 
our benefactors through 2028. We take no view as to whether that digital modernisation
of money should be done by the private sector or the public sector. The Trump administration
is clear that this modernisation will take place through private stablecoin operators.[
[Stablecoins ](https://moneyweek.com/investments/bitcoin-crypto/how-stablecoins-work-risks)
are cryptocurrencies linked to real-world assets such as the US dollar or gold.]
Congress has passed the Genius Act, which legalises the modernisation of the dollar
through the private sector.

**Matthew Partridge: Are there any countries other than the US that are doing interesting
things with crypto?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** I think Japan will become a leader in private-sector,
non-dollar-based stablecoins. Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have been very
innovative in their licensing regimes. However, while Europe has passed the comprehensive
[Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MICA)](https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica),
this has not unleased the wave of innovation that it hoped it would, and has largely
been overlooked by other regulators. I’m also a bit disappointed by the UK, which
was ahead of us ten years ago.

**Matthew Partridge: What should the UK do to regain its position at the forefront
of crypto?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** I would use an Italian word, _coraggio_, which means
courage. I think that since Brexit, for whatever reason, the UK has been unwilling
to take risks when it comes to financial innovation. My approach is to let innovation
flourish, but make sure the regulator is just one step behind and well equipped 
with some of the best minds available to help it understand the sector’s innovations.

**Matthew Partridge: Bitcoin and crypto generally have become mainstream assets 
in recent years. Do you think that means the huge price gains we’ve seen in the 
last decade are much less likely in future? Is crypto likely to begin behaving more
like a currency than an investment?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** I think the triple-digit percentage gains we’ve seen
are probably a thing of the past. When it comes to a new technology, the outsized
gains for investors often come early. So as the asset class matures, the scope for
100%-plus gains dwindles.

The same thing happened with the internet revolution 25 years ago. The big gains
for companies such as Cisco Systems and Microsoft were in the early years. And you
see that in all new technology revolutions; the biggest gains in the AI companies
came about two years ago. That’s why investors are always looking for the next new
thing.

**Matthew Partridge: What is the latest thing in financial technology (fintech) 
that could become the next crypto?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo**: Decentralised financial markets. Markets used to be
closed on weekends, so if an event occurred on a Saturday, you couldn’t hedge your
position until Monday morning. Well, along comes a decentralised exchange called
Hyperliquid, with its own specialised blockchain, and suddenly people are trading
within minutes of a Saturday event. Traditional exchanges are now starting to operate
24/7, because the decentralised exchanges have revealed demand on weekends.

The same thing is happening with so-called perpetuals. Futures contracts used to
be dated, with the parties settling up at a particular time. But now perpetual futures
allow you to hedge a position indefinitely; you just continue to fund the margin.
Again, that began in many offshore markets. Decentralised exchanges are forcing 
traditional markets to up their game.

**Matthew Partridge: You’ve said that crypto is a young person’s financial revolution.
Do you think it still has a role to play in a low-risk portfolio of someone who 
is retired, or close to retirement?**

**J. Christopher Giancarlo:** As you age, you move from equities to debt and ultimately
cash, and the biggest risk becomes [inflation](https://moneyweek.com/economy/inflation/605514/what-is-inflation).
Since bitcoin is anti-inflationary, with many people seeing it as the equivalent
of gold, it certainly has a place in such a portfolio. More broadly, I think the
traditional financial system served the second half of the 20th century very well.
But times are changing, and the current system has proved slow and expensive. Moreover,
crypto is another element of how the internet has changed how we communicate with
each other.

What I would say to the older generation is that the new generation, which grew 
up trading tokens on [video games](https://moneyweek.com/investments/could-video-games-take-your-portfolio-to-the-next-level)
and has never set foot in the bank branch, is going to bring this new system with
it, so there’s no going back, and everything of value is ultimately going to be 
tokenised and put on a blockchain. Instead of fighting the trend, you should learn
about it and consider putting some [crypto in your portfolio](https://moneyweek.com/investments/bitcoin-crypto/how-to-add-cryptocurrency-to-your-portfolio)
to protect you against the one trend that, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be reversing:
Western governments debasing their money.

_This article was first published in MoneyWeek’s magazine. Enjoy exclusive early
access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a _
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## How the UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon is at the heart of the AI boom

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/how-the-uaes-sheikh-tahnoon-is-at-the-heart-of-the-ai-boom/
- Published: 2026-10-11T06:00:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

Sheikh Tahnoon is the younger brother of the UAE’s ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed(
MBZ). He combines his role as the emirates’ top money man and dealmaker – he runs
the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund and the First Abu Dhabi Bank – with a vital
position as head of national security. He is perhaps the individual who has done
most to further his country’s relations with the US.

Twenty years ago, the United Arab Emirates was “at the centre of a political firestorm”
when a bid to buy up six major US seaports, through the Dubai-owned logistics company
DP World, triggered uproar, says the[ _Financial Times_](https://www.ft.com/content/ec5f7351-7aec-4fe1-80dc-b02c62045109?syn-25a6b1a6=1).
Alleging the oil-rich Gulf state was a financing hub for al-Qaeda, some in Congress
warned of a dire threat to US security if the UAE was allowed to run strategic ports.
DP World was forced to back out of the sale. It also proved “a watershed moment 
for the UAE – and its relationship with America”.

The ruling Al Nahyan dynasty, implacably opposed to Islamic extremism, decided it
was time to fix this “fundamental misunderstanding”. And they did. Two decades on,
the UAE is one of America’s most capable allies and business partners in the Middle
East.

Sheikh Tahnoon, who is rarely seen in public without his trademark dark glasses,
cuts an enigmatic figure, says [_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/01/fixer-financier-spymaster-how-the-uaes-sheikh-tahnoon-is-setting-his-sights-on-ai-dominance).
His influence is global. He presides over an economic empire worth roughly $1.5 
trillion – equal to the entire output of Indonesia or Turkey – with an extraordinary
breadth of investments. In the UK alone, he oversees healthcare providers and property
giants and manages investments in public utilities such as Thames Water. This summer,
the sheikh’s investment conglomerate IHC bought a controlling stake in Richard Caring’s
Ivy hospitality empire.

## Sheikh Tahnoon’s race to global dominance with G42

But the business that has done most to cement relations with the Trump administration
and Silicon Valley is Sheikh Tahnoon’s AI and cybersecurity company G42, which has
now successfully positioned itself at the heart of the global AI establishment. 
Microsoft has invested $1.5 billion and its vice-chair, Brad Smith, now has a seat
on the G42 board. G42 is either a direct investor in or a major partner of [Anthropic ](https://moneyweek.com/investments/tech-stocks/anthropic-ipo-process)
and [OpenAI](https://moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/openai-starts-ipo-process-with-sec-filing).

[Donald Trump](https://moneyweek.com/economy/people/what-is-donald-trumps-net-worth)
has “clutched Tahnoon and G42 close to his bosom”, and last year reversed a decision
to restrict the export of AI chips to the UAE, paving the way for the construction
of the biggest data centre in the world in a campus outside Abu Dhabi, says The 
Wall Street Journal. Dubbed “Stargate UAE”, the completed facility will have a 5GW
power capacity, up to five times the size of today’s largest hyperscale data centres.
The US chip deal was announced two weeks after one of Tahnoon’s investment vehicles
acquired $2 billion worth of [cryptocurrency ](https://moneyweek.com/investments/bitcoin-crypto/what-is-crypto)
issued by the Trump family’s company, World Liberty.

Sheikh Tahnoon’s father, Sheikh Zayed, who established the ruling dynasty following
independence from Britain in 1971, is believed to have fathered 30 children, but
it was the offspring of his third and favourite wife, Fatima, who emerged as the
nation’s powerbrokers. Tahnoon and his five brothers are known in the UAE as the
bani Fatima, or “sons of Fatima”, says _The Guardian_, and grew up steeped in her“
worldview that placed their family at the centre of the universe”.

Whether playing chess, video games or throwing Brazilian jiu-jitsu moves, Tahnoon,
57, is “obsessed with winning”. But his activities as the UAE’s security chief reveal
a darker streak, says _The Guardian_. “The UAE has a long history of enforced disappearances,
secret detention sites and vicious reprisals against the family members of exiled
dissidents.” Indeed, G42 is the “culmination of Tahnoon’s dual identity as a financier
and spymaster”. Much of its expertise derives from DarkMatter, a now-dissolved company
renowned for its hacking and surveillance activities.

It may trouble some that the UAE is emerging as such a strong global force in AI
and that Tahnoon is at the heart of it. Very few people outside the UAE even know
his name. “He’s quiet,” one former US national security official told _The Guardian_,“
and he’s always everywhere.” If he gets his way, his global reach has only just 
begun.

## Will Manchester City’s scandal end ‘sportswashing’?

- Link: https://westbrookeassociates.com/will-manchester-citys-scandal-end-sportswashing/
- Published: 2026-10-10T08:00:00+00:00
- Author: Matt

Manchester City football club has been found guilty of serious financial misconduct
by an independent commission appointed by the Premier League, after years of investigations
and legal wrangling.

It is a damning verdict. The panel found that the club artificially inflated its
revenues by at least $1 billion, with sham contracts designed to get around the 
rules that are meant to ensure a roughly level playing field between the teams in
the league.

The details are complex, but the bottom line is something that has been pretty obvious
for years to anyone who follows the game: Manchester City was using the financial
firepower of its oil-rich owners in the United Arab Emirates to outspend its rivals.
It could offer the biggest transfer fees and the most lavish wages to secure any
player it wanted. The club is appealing the decision, but faces significant punishment
if it is upheld.

![The British newspaper headlines after Manchester City found guilty of breaches
of Premier League financial rules](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QxB2DzcHF2CowryqFft7Yo-
1920-80.jpg)

Newspaper headlines after Manchester City was found guilty (Image credit: Visionhaus/
Getty Images)

There is a bigger issue at stake here: “sportswashing” – engaging with high-level
sport to spruce up a country’s reputation – is now under threat. It has become a
huge business. The Premier League has become one of the most obvious examples, with
a whole series of teams owned either directly by foreign states, their investment
funds, or by oligarchs closely linked to them.

But it does not stop there. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the LIV golf tournament.
Qatar spent billions hosting the 2022 World Cup. Russia hosted the 2018 tournament.
Formula One includes races in such well-known bastions of human rights and democracy
as Bahrain and Azerbaijan.

It’s not hard to see what is in it for the regimes. It raises their profile, boosts
tourism and softens their image. For millions of viewers around the world, most 
of whom are not very interested in politics, the practice introduced them to a country
they may not previously have been very aware of. It was all well worth the few billion
you might have to spend on stadiums, sponsorship or prize money.

![F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in Malaysia at Sepang Circuit](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.
net/qxcS6iv5ZNdgfZbghADhDF-1920-80.jpg)

Formula One allows races in Bahrain, a country with a dire human rights violations
record (Image credit: Kym Illman/Getty Images)

## Manchester City’s image tarnished beyond repair

The Manchester City scandal is going to change the equation dramatically. There 
are two major problems. To start with, entire investments can get wiped out in the
space of a few days. No one really knows how much money was spent on turning Manchester
City from a mid-table English club into one of the most successful teams in Europe.
That, after all, is the whole point. We have no idea what was happening with the
books. It was a lot, however, that much is for certain. If the team is relegated
all the way down to League Two (what used to be the Fourth Division before they 
renamed it), it will be worth a whole lot less, and perhaps nothing at all. Billions
will be lost, with very little chance of ever clawing it back.

Secondly, even if the allegations are proved inaccurate, the club’s image has surely
been tarnished beyond repair. No one blames the players or the manager for the scandal,
even if they might have asked harder questions about where all the money was coming
from. They will blame the owners. But sportswashing only makes sense if it actually
improves your reputation. In the wake of this scandal, everyone who follows football,
even if only casually, will have a far lower opinion of the regime that backed Manchester
City than they did before – the opposite of what was meant to happen.

We don’t yet know if all the money poured into sportswashing is about to dry up 
completely. The scandal may blow over, and many of the contracts that have been 
signed can’t be unwound quickly. But in its wake, countries are likely to be more
cautious about backing major global events. They will be aware that the money they
sink into them may well be lost. They will realise that it may well backfire and
make them look very, very bad.

The result is that the money machine will be switched off. Most major sporting events
will have to go back to being more modestly financed. The salaries will be lower,
existing stadiums will have to be made to work instead of building new ones, and
the agents and hustlers who surround the whole circus will have to find something
else to do. Sport itself may be much better for that – but a lot of money will have
been lost forever.

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