Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani broke his previous record for the most expensive residential real estate deal in Dubai in about two months, as he raised his real estate ownership in Dubai by buying another beachside villa.
According to Arab Net, the second richest man in India bought the Palm Jumeirah Palace last week for about $163 million from the family of Kuwaiti businessman Mohammed Al-Shaya.
The Alshaya Group owns the local franchises of retail brands including Starbucks, H&M and Victoria's Secret. Ambani is the Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, the largest Indian company by market value, with a net worth of $84 billion.
The billionaire has been snapping up real estate abroad, increasingly looking west for second homes. And Bloomberg reported that Reliance spent $79 million last year to buy the famous British club Stoke Park, and Ambani is looking for real estate in New York.
Ambani's latest purchase in Dubai was a short distance from his current deal, as he bought a mansion in Jumeirah for $80 million, which was the largest sale of a residential property in the city until the sale of another mansion on the island for $82.4 million days later.
For its part, the Dubai Land Department reported a real estate deal worth $163 million in Palm Jumeirah earlier this week, without revealing the identity of the buyer.
Rising prices
A string of record deals underscores Dubai's recent success in attracting some of the world's richest business executives. The emirate's real estate market - which contributes about a third of its economy - is recovering from a seven-year slump thanks to the government's smart handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and initiatives aimed at giving expats a greater share in the economy.
As of the end of last month, the prices of prime real estate in the emirate had increased by more than 70% year-on-year, the biggest gain for the global Knight Frank Index.