--- title: Meet the Billionaire Sheikh Who Built the World's Largest Truck and Once Carved His Name Into His Own Private Island description: Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, known as the Rainbow Sheik, is worth $20 billion and has an enormous amount of cars and large trucks. authors: - name: Paul Schrodt url: https://money.com/author/paul-schrodt/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 157 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Technology former_staff: true published: '2018-10-18T15:00:48.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T11:03:14.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - Billionaires word_count: 489 canonical: https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![billionaire-sheikh](https://img.money.com/2018/10/billionaire-sheikh1.jpg) *Portrait of the Sheikh.* Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan is known as the Rainbow Sheikh, but not because he’s a public supporter of LGBTQ rights. The member of one of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling families, the Al Nahyan clan based in Abu Dhabi, has a vast car collection that [reportedly](https://www.businessinsider.com/abu-dhabi-rainbow-sheikh-car-collection-2012-2) includes seven Mercedes S-Classes in different colors, and the full spectrum of light makes its way to other vehicles in his fleet. Though he’s a billionaire with major influence in the UAE’s capital, Hamad is at least as well-known for his eccentric spending habits, automotive and otherwise. Not unlike a Middle Eastern J[ay Leno](https://money.com/jay-leno-car-collection-interview/), Hamad has spent spent recent years amassing more and more rare and esoteric vehicles. According to [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/abu-dhabi-rainbow-sheikh-car-collection-2012-2), which got a look at the goods, he has several vintage Mini Coopers, what appears to be a replica of an 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen—widely considered the first ever car—and the only SUV Lamborghini has made. [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGVzkmb_vA4) He tends to like his cars a little bigger, however. He built the largest truck in existence, a version of the Dodge Power Wagon 64 times larger than the original with an entire apartment inside, which the [BBC covered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8GdadQzMeo). Business Insider [spotted](https://www.businessinsider.com/spotted-this-billionaire-sheikh-takes-off-roading-very-seriously-2012-2) Hamad’s Mercedes W128, actually the shell of that car, sitting on wheels fit for a monster truck. (He has a special fondness for Mercedes, and the brand’s fans seem to be just as taken with him online.) That unlikely hybrid was discovered outside the [Emirates National Auto Museum](http://www.enam.ae/) in Abu Dhabi, home to the vehicles of none other than the Rainbow Sheikh himself. The UAE’s [*Wheels*](https://wheels.ae/news/news-stories/article/4238/adding-colour-to-the-dunes) magazine recently featured Hamad with three off-roading vehicles, customized in his own workshop, that he brought to the Gulf News Fun Drive [event](https://me.askmen.com/cars/1104109/gallery/gulf-news-fun-drive-2018?p=1), in which participants show off their hulking rides in the middle of the desert. The sheikh also has a penchant for sharing his enthusiasms on his [Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/shhamadbinhamdan/), which is almost entirely devoted to transportation. It features everything from a massive white Ford truck in sand dunes and a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville to a sleek boat. While Hamad stays relatively under the radar apart from his hobbies, according to *[The Daily Mail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016841/Al-Futaysi-island-Hamad-carves-2-miles-long-sand-visible-SPACE.html)*, his personal fortune nearly rivals the Saudi king’s, and he’s a medical philanthropist. But he's an icon nonetheless in his native region. With a net worth [estimated](https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/nation/the-rainbow-sheikh-the-hobbies-and-passions-of-sheikh-hamad-bin-hamdan-al-nahyan/) at $20 billion and a castle for his home, he's not hurting. Hamad's money pile comes from his family's control over Abu Dhabi's [oil deposits](https://www.forbes.com/2008/08/20/worlds-richest-royals-biz-richroyals08-cz_ts_0820royalintro.html#5565b87d44e9), which comprise 95% of the UAE's oil. His oddball projects also extend beyond road and track. He made news across the world in 2011 when he reportedly had workmen [carve](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/billionaire-sheikh-who-carved-his-name-island/353098/) his name into his own private island in the UAE called Al Futaisi, forming waterways in the sand. *The Atlantic* [confirmed](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/billionaire-sheikh-who-carved-his-name-island/353098/) that the name’s enormous letters were actually visible from space. (The display has since been [scrubbed](https://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/04/30/abu-dhabi-sheikh-has-name-erased-from-private-island/).) Apparently Hamad shares Texans’ belief in making everything bigger. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Places to Travel", "item": "https://money.com/places-to-travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Meet the Billionaire Sheikh Who Built the World's Largest Truck and Once Carved His Name Into His Own Private Island" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/", "name": "Meet the Billionaire Sheikh Who Built the World's Largest Truck and Once Carved His Name Into His Own Private Island", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2018-10-18T15:00:48.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T11:03:14.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Meet the Billionaire Sheikh Who Built the World's Largest Truck and Once Carved His Name Into His Own Private Island", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2018/10/billionaire-sheikh1.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "billionaire-sheikh" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Schrodt", "url": "https://money.com/author/paul-schrodt/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/paul-schrodt/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2018-10-18T15:00:48.000Z", "description": "Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, known as the Rainbow Sheik, is worth $20 billion and has an enormous amount of cars and large trucks.", "abstract": "Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, known as the Rainbow Sheik, is worth $20 billion and has an enormous amount of cars and large trucks.", "@id": "https://money.com/meet-the-billionaire-sheikh-who-built-the-worlds-largest-truck-and-once-carved-his-name-into-his-own-private-island/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T11:03:14.000Z", "wordCount": 489, "keywords": [ "Billionaires" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "World Tourism rankings", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings" ] } ] } ] } ```