Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani

Hamad was born in Doha, Qatar, on 30 August 1959. He is the fifth son of Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani. Through his father, he is the grandson of Jaber bin Mohammed Al Thani. Jaber was a younger brother of Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the founding father of modern Qatar.

Between 1982 and 1989, Hamad was the director of the office of the minister of municipal affairs and agriculture. In July 1989, he was appointed minister of municipal affairs and agriculture and in May 1990, he was appointed deputy minister of electricity and water along with his post as minister of municipal affairs and agriculture, where he supervised several successful projects and developed the agriculture sector.

On 1 September 1992, Hamad was appointed as foreign minister of Qatar by Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani. He retained his post when the Emir's son, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani came to power in a coup in 1995. Hamad played an important role in the overthrow of Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani. On 16 September 2003, Hamad was appointed first deputy prime minister while retaining his position of minister of foreign affairs. On 2 April 2007, he was appointed as prime minister, following the resignation of Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani; Hamad also continued to serve as foreign minister. Hamad had vast foreign policy goals for Qatar during his tenure.

Hamad was reported to have had strong connections with the US government. He serves on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution and chairs the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Doha Center. He has stakes in many strong businesses such as Qatar Airways and the Foreign Investment Company, Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, The Pearl Island and Harrods. He is a partner in Project Grande (Guernsey), the developer of One Hyde Park in London.

Additionally, Hamad held several other key positions including member of the supreme defense council, which was established in 1996; head of Qatar's permanent committee for the support of al Quds, which was formed in 1998; member of the permanent constitution committee, formed in 1999; member of the ruling family council, which was established in 2000; and member of the supreme council for the investment of the reserves of the state, which was established in 2000.

A May 2008 diplomatic cable sent by then U.S. chargé d'affaires in Doha, alluded to a dispute between Hamad and the Qatari intelligence officials over a Qatari senior bank official imprisoned for 6 months over his role in funding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the al-Qaeda mastermind of September 11. The senior bank official was Khalifa Muhammad Turki al-Subaiy who financed KSM while working at Qatar Central Bank. The French government made Qatar under Hamad's guidance a strategic partner, and the list of partnerships between the two states includes Total, EADS, Technip, Air Liquide, Vinci SA, GDF Suez, and Areva. France was, during the Hamad government, the primary arms supplier to Qatar. In February 2009, under the Sarkozy government, France accorded special beyond-OCDE investment privileges to Qatar, its ruling family and its State-Owned Enterprises; one example of the privileges is capital gains exemptions in France.

The US embassy to Doha claimed, in a cable leaked in December 2010, that "Sheikh Hamad told then US senator John Kerry that he had proposed a bargain with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, which involved stopping broadcasts in Egypt in exchange for a change in Cairo's position on Israel-Palestinian negotiations, and that 'we would stop al-Jazeera for a year' if Mubarak agreed in that span of time to deliver a lasting settlement for the Palestinians."

On 25 June 2013, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani abdicated as Emir of Qatar, and on the next day, 26 June, Hamad resigned from office. Some have questioned whether this was because the new emir pulled him from his post after realizing how much power he had amassed. He was replaced by Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani as prime minister and by Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah as foreign minister. On 3 July, Hamad was also relieved from the post of deputy head of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

It was under Hamad that Qatar began assisting rebels in Syria by supplying them with arms. This move brought criticism upon Qatar, as some questioned whether these arms ultimately ended up in the wrong hands.

In June 2021, High Court of Justice in London issued a claim, according to which Hamad bin Jassim's private office was at the heart of clandestine routes by which money was transferred to an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front.

In March 2022 Hamad bin Jassim said to a Qatari television that the Military Operations Command in Jordan and Turkey have spent $2 trillion to remove Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Business and wealth

Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani is one of the richest people in the world, having overseen Qatar's $230 billion sovereign wealth fund until 2013. He has been named "the man who bought London" by British tabloids; his holdings in London include the Shard, Harrods, and the InterContinental London Park Lane. It was reported that Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani bought Banque Internationale à Luxembourg and KBL European Private Bankers via Precision Capital, making one of the largest banking groups in Luxembourg.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, he also owns 3.05% shares of the Deutsche Bank, via Paramount Services Holdings Limited; his relative, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (former emir of Qatar), via another company Supreme Universal Holdings, owns 3.05% of the shares. Part of Hamad bin Khalifa's stake was sold by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber.

In May 2015, Hamad purchased Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O) for $179.4 million including fees, a record price for a painting at auction. He also owns a super-yacht, the Al Mirqab, worth $300 million.

In 2021, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £2 billion.

In 2025, Hamad was involved in a high-profile legal and public relations dispute with Irish property magnate Paddy McKillen.

Multiple news reports and arbitration-industry sources indicate that during late 2025 McKillen was awarded between £700 million and £800 million in arbitration against Hamad and associated Qatari owners in relation to the deferred-payment dispute, with the award described as one of the largest of its kind.

In June 2022, The Times reported that between 2011 and 2015 Prince Charles accepted €3 million in cash from Hamad. The funds were said to be in the form of €500 notes, handed over in person in three tranches, in a suitcase, holdall and Fortnum & Mason carrier bags. Charles' meetings with Hamad did not appear in the Court Circular. Coutts collected the cash and each payment was deposited into the accounts of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund. A Clarence House spokesperson stated that the appropriate covenants were carried out, and it was the "donor's choice" to make the donations in cash, after which the trustees "discussed the governance and donor relationship" and the auditors "signed off on the donation after a specific enquiry during the audit". There is no evidence that the payments were illegal or that it was not intended for the money to go to the charity. The Charity Commission for England and Wales announced they would review the information and determine if "there is any role for the Commission in this matter".

BAE Systems

Following courting by Michael Portillo, Qatar entered into an arms deal worth £500 million with BAE Systems. £7 million was transferred into two trusts in Jersey of which Hamad was named as a beneficiary. In an attempt to prevent money laundering, the funds were frozen from 16 July 2000 by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, who then began a court case and investigation. Hamad paid the Jersey authorities £6 million as a "voluntary reparation" as "the structures put in place by his advisers may have contributed to the cost and complexity of the inquiry." The case was then dropped by the Jersey authorities.

Heritage Oil

In June 2014, Hamad acquired 80% of Heritage Oil, which was listed as a London exploration and production company. At the same time, he was listed as a "Counsellor" at the Qatari embassy and as such was privileged to legal immunity under the 1961 Vienna Convention. Article 42 of this convention states that "a diplomat shall not in the receiving State practise for personal profit any professional or commercial activity" thereby disallowing the acquisition. The stake, valued at £924 million and dated April 30, 2014, transferred to a "wholly owned subsidiary" of Al-Mirqab Capital, an investment company privately owned by Hamad and his family. His lawyers maintain that the fact that the company was listed in London is not sufficient evidence to determine that Article 42 had been violated.

Paradise Papers

In November 2017 an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism cited his name in the list of politicians named in the Paradise Papers.