JJW Hotels & Resorts

Austria

In 2002, Al Jaber acquired the famous Grand Hotel, Vienna from the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways. He later acquired the premises of a former bank on Kärntner Ring and converted the building to the boutique Ring Hotel. In October 2006, he bought the Palais Corso, Vienna's premier luxury shopping and office complex from Generali Versicherung, for about €70 million. In 2007, JJW purchased the Palace Schwarzenberg Hotel in Vienna and unsuccessfully sought to expand the hotel.

In 2007, Al Jaber agreed to invest 10% in the building of the Vienna Tourism University (Modul University Vienna), and provided scholarships for students there.

In the beginning of 2008, Al Jaber sought to purchase a 20% stake in the financially troubled Austrian Airlines. However, he withdrew his offer in May 2008 after the company published its negative quarterly results, based on the grounds that the company intentionally withheld the actual level of trouble faced. Auditor Herbert Heiser, who was called by the court to consult in the legal dispute between AUA and Al Jaber, agreed with Al Jaber's conclusions. He states in his report that rather than its officially declared profit of €3.3 million, the AUA should have revealed a hefty loss – of around €235 million. In 2023, Al Jaber won the legal dispute with Austrian Airlines. Vienna Commercial Court ruled that he was entitled to withdraw from an investment contract concluded in April 2008 due to clear misconduct on the part of Austrian Airlines. Al Jaber announced that he will file a lawsuit against AUA to compensate for business and reputational damage.

In July 2008, Al Jaber took a 60% stake in Kneissl Holding GmbH, an Austrian manufacturer of sports equipment, and in 2015 the JJW Group acquired 100% of the company.

In May 2011, Al Jaber said that he was defamed by Austrian Media after it implied financial difficulties in some of the companies that Al Jaber had invested in. He accused the newspapers of reporting a one-sided version of events.

In October 2020, Al Jaber and Robert Zadrazil, CEO of Bank Austria UniCredit, reached an amicable end to a legal dispute that had existed since 2012 following constructive discussions between the parties. As part of the resolution, the two business leaders have committed to work together in an attempt to strengthen the Austrian economy.

France

The Group opened their first office in France in 1991. The hotel empire of Al Jaber was initially started in France in 1988 and expanded to over 35 hotel properties in France and almost 80 in Europe. In October 2008, it was announced that the Group planned to acquire a number of hotels in France from the Starwood Capital Group for $2billion but the deal was not concluded.