Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was the youngest son of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the ruler who laid the foundations of modern Dubai, and Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. Born in Bur Dubai on 12 July 1950, he grew up inside a family that was turning a Gulf trading port into a global city. He was the younger brother of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who would become Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and of the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

His public life began with military training rather than ceremony. After graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, he joined Dubai's Central Military Command and later became its commander in chief. Under his leadership the base grew into one of the United Arab Emirates' principal military centres. He went on to serve as Deputy Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security, a role that kept him close to the security architecture of the emirate even as his brothers occupied the most visible political offices.

Sport, not politics, was the arena where his name became inseparable from Dubai's popular culture. In 1960 he helped found what became Al Wasl Sports Club in a small house in Za'abeel. He formed the club's first board in 1962, served as chairman until 1974, and remained president for about six decades. Waslawi supporters came to treat his patronage as part of the club's identity. Under that long stewardship Al Wasl developed into one of the UAE's most followed multi-sport institutions, especially in football, and a regular presence in domestic and regional competition.

Horse racing was his other great public passion. He established Jebel Ali Racecourse to give Dubai a distinctive racing venue and launched Al Adiyat and the Dubai Horse Racing Centre to support the industry. Working with his team, he helped shape handicapping practice and other racing rules in the UAE. His colours first made international headlines in 1982 when Wassl won the Irish 2000 Guineas and the Craven Stakes. The stallion Mtoto later became the most celebrated horse associated with him, winning seven of ten races between 1985 and 1988, including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1988. Horses carrying his interests also collected major prizes including the 1000 Guineas, Irish Oaks, Irish St Leger, Dewhurst Stakes, Gold Cup, Dubai Golden Shaheen and UAE 2000 Guineas.

On water as on turf, he preferred building institutions. He was among the main figures behind the Dubai International Marine Club, serving as its first chairman in 1988. The club became the first in the Middle East and Africa to join the Union Internationale Motonautique. He also played a part in establishing the Victory Team in 1989, extending Dubai's reach in powerboat racing.

Business interests ran in parallel with sport and security. In 1991 he established the Dubai Real Estate Centre, which grew to manage more than 3,200 residential, commercial, retail and industrial units across Dubai. In 2019 he consolidated holdings under A.R.M. Holding, an investment group with interests spanning real estate, education, food and beverage, banking, telecommunications and hospitality, including brands such as Huna and Hive Coliv.

He kept a lower public profile than some of his brothers, yet family photographs and official visits showed a steady private bond with Sheikh Mohammed. In July 2023 the brothers were photographed together in London. In later years Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed publicly visited him at home in Dubai, including after medical treatment, images that Emirati social media treated as signs of familial care rather than state theatre.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum died in Dubai on the morning of Monday 21 September 2026, aged 76. The Court of Sheikh Mohammed declared ten days of official mourning in Dubai with flags at half-mast. Sheikh Mohammed wrote that his brother was absent from their eyes but not from their prayers and hearts. Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed called him a cherished member of the family who would remain in hearts, memory and prayer. For many in Dubai the mourning was also sporting: the president whose name had been woven through Al Wasl since its Za'abeel beginnings was gone, leaving a record measured in clubs founded, races won, bases built, and a city that had grown up around his quieter form of service.