Mohamed Alabbar’s Warning About the Future of the West

It was to go public. Like what? What's a stupid idea? Stupid idea. The whole of September, our company had no meeting, no Zoom, no team, nothing because it's all garbage.

The world is full of incredible opportunities. It is so positive. It's incredible. Maybe because I live in an environment where in Dubai and in the UAE, you know, you are infused with positivity. You're infused by tremendous value and optimism about tomorrow. So that's certainly I've lived it since I came from Singapore. Thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. And that will be so every time. If I talk about Bangkok and I talked about Macedonia just recently, it's just nothing but positivity everywhere you look. And these are real. You know, we do good analysis of all these opportunities and we test them. But at the same time, it's worrying because the world is in such turmoil. So one has to be realistic that you are positive, but at the same time, you have to be realistic that the world is in turmoil. And maybe that makes us also work harder, wiser, seek advice. Probably on my desk and in my phone, I have like four AIs running all the time to possibly help me figure out what to do, what not to do, and I'm still learning. And I have my daughter Haya here with me. She's my main adviser. She's the mathematician of the family. So, I guess we seek, we see. I mean, oh by the way, two days ago I was with the founder of Uber and had an amazing two hours with him. And Travis, you know, Travis is a really incredible guy and I was seeking advice as well. So seek advice, learn more, while the world in our views is very, very positive, but at the same time there's so much turmoil.

Oh, I think my country, I think the UAE is growing aggressively. So there's a lot of force in what we do here. My e-commerce business is like almost exploding here and in the region. Real estate is really on fire. So we can't even catch up with it. But still we're growing 40, 50% a year, which means that, you know, instead of building 50 buildings, we build the next year, we build 100 buildings. So it's a lot of force, a lot of activities. While we, of course, we're taking care of our brand. Your brand, your name is everything in life. Remember that. Especially social influencers, your authenticity and your brand is everything and it's long term. So that's, you know, we are trying to handle and that's going well. Internationally also things are looking good for us. We are quite big in East Europe, in the Middle East as well. We are now starting our operation in Asia and between Indonesia and Bangkok.

The United States? Yes. Yeah, we have a business in the US. We went first in 2005 and we ran away after losing $1.2 billion. You know, learning hard, right? Anyway, I run a public company. So I'm glad that my shareholders were kind enough to know that I lost 1 billion but I made 70 billion. So they were forgiving. It's okay. No problem. Yeah.

So I'm back. We are back in the US. My family have been in the US, my family investment for the past 20 years. But at the same time, now I'm looking to create a land company in the US. Yes.

Well, one thing we have to keep in mind is that without a healthy United States of America, you know, there's a big risk for the world economy. So I think we all want the best for the United States because the world depends on China. The world depends on the United States. We want these countries to be healthy. So therefore, we have to know that we are also in long-term business. And by the way, even content creators, social influencers, you are really, if you don't build your business long term, and that's why value of your brand and your authenticity, if it's not long-term, then you are really not in the business. So, you know, we look at our business as a long-term business. Therefore, cycles will come and go. You've got this Republican party, you've got that Republican party, things will move on, but you know, the United States of America is the United States of America. And you need to invest long term and make sure that you do your homework.

Well, I mean, I'm sure you read the famous book, I don't know who's the guy who wrote it, but it's called The Party. And I think the Chinese, you know, the leadership in China, the smartest people who come from school and university, they are the people who are running China. They don't run technology companies. They don't run, you know, they are the smartest minds. And in fact, just last week, I met a lady that I hired. I really was so impressed with her. She's running our China office. And then I sent her to my Noon boys. I said, 'Guys, boys and girls, I said, 'Guys, you know, she could help us with whatever we are because we import a lot from China.' And they said, 'Have you seen her CV?' I said, 'Yeah, I've seen the CV.' They said, 'No, have you seen her university certificate?' I said, 'No.' They said, 'She is math and physics graduate 4.0.' Anyway, so I saw her the next day and she said, 'Oh, by the way, I need to introduce you. I have to be very honest with you. I have to introduce you to my partner and because he's politically connected.' I said, 'What do you mean?' She said, 'He is the son of one of senior people in the political party.' You know what I know from that? I know that from Singapore, they marry the smart people.

So these guys are so serious. The West do not even know they are so serious.

By the way, you know, in that big EU conference, somebody before the conference was talking to me and he was aggressive. That's why I did that in the conference. I said, you know, all of you are so busy with election, election. We're very busy with construction, construction. So, it was a long story, but it's true. It's true. I mean, people that go election, you know what I mean? The unqualified people, they are the people who go for election and political parties and all that. It's too bad. But we wish everybody well. We want everyone to succeed. We want every country to do well because earth is a very small place. We want everyone to prosper.

Well, first of all, I have to be very honest with you. It's very humbling that how we businessmen, we really think that we're so successful and we are so capable and all that. But for example, with all of my capability, certain countries I failed in. America I failed. I don't want to mention some another two countries I'm having difficulties in. And that tells you that we are mesmerized by how easy it is to succeed in the Emirates. This country, it's like we're so spoiled. It's just autopilot. You get rich because regulations are incredible. The environment is so great, business is growing, government policies are helping us. And when they announced that they will... So I'm saying that this country make you succeed so easy. Other countries you can't even breathe and you lose all your money. So this environment, you guys know that right? This environment, like I wanted to do a building in Berlin and the mayor said no, we need to study because you know they have big shortage of housing in Berlin, like they have really big, big problem. So they said, 'No, we need 12 years study to study the snails that are living in this area.' I said, '12 years? I'll be 85 by that time.' I said, 'Well, you know what? Take care of the snails and let the German sleep on the streets.' And that's the problem in California, by the way. Shortage of housing is same. So I'm saying that this country, you think you are really smart and you succeed, we are not smart. This country make it so easy for us to succeed and grow. So we have to be humble about this. So I really think that the story of my company is that I was able, thank God, to think of an idea that can solve a problem. So all of you in the content area, on social influencers or business young men, whatever you want to do, think of a problem that you can solve better than others, whatever that is, solve it. So I was able to think of my company to solve a problem that was in line also with the growth of the city. And then after that, it is hard work. It is protecting your brand. It is bringing your best people. If you think you will succeed, no, it's a lot of struggle and we struggled. We made mistakes and the biggest mistake that my company is public, like what's a stupid idea. A stupid idea.

I was go public. You know why? Because like now for the past 28 years, because you know I announce my result every 90 days and you know how that feels. It's like it feels like every 90 days I have to strip naked in front of the public. I say, you see who I am, you see my weight, you see how much I spent, you see what I've eaten, are you happy? Okay let's go on. So I've been doing this for 28 years. Wow. Don't go public. But the good thing about public, it differentiate between the men and the boys. If you are public, yeah. Like in Arabic it says 'la raḥma' which means no mercy. No mercy. Shareholders want their shares to go up. They want the profit up every quarter. Don't tell me you have a COVID problem. You have I don't know what US problem, no, my money. And I really think that, you know, and that takes you to discipline and resilience. So discipline, resilience in your business is everything. Brand value. And you have to enjoy the ride. You have to have a team that enjoys the struggle. It's a struggle but it's a lot of fun. And when it flies, it really flies. So now we are at flying mode, which means that, you know, we're flying really high, but at the same time we grip everything tight. Less people, less everything. Even the type of tea in the office now we serve, we used to serve I think two types of tea, now we serve one type of tea. No meetings, nothing. No September. The whole of September our company had no meeting, no Zoom, no team, nothing because it's all garbage. And guess what? Like our profit is up, our sale is up, productivity is up. You want something from me, pick up the phone. So we use also as we succeed, we tighten operation at all times. So it's such an incredible journey and we made a lot of mistakes as well. So don't think that we have done everything right. Okay? I'm sure some of the stuff we're doing now probably will discover that we are learning.

Oh, I love Egypt. Yes.

North Coast. The people. Oh, the Egyptian people are just most incredible people. Really? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. You know, a lot of us, I have to tell you this guys, a lot of us we fly to Europe. We speaking Middle Eastern. No. Then when you come there to immigration counter, they tell you, of course no smile. Why are you coming? How long you'll stay? Said, 'Thank you, sir. I'll be spending about 1,500 a night in your hotel. And I'll pay VAT and taxes. So please can you let me in? Okay. I'm helping your economy. How many days you will stay?' Well, I thought with 1,500 a night, you want me to stay long. I'm staying three nights. Yeah. It's like first insult. You come to the main immigration counter. I insult you right there. So insulting. Don't you ever go to a country where they treat you like this. Why are you coming? How long are you staying? Hey, hey, hey. Easy, easy, easy. You go to Egypt, they love you from the tarmac. And they are funny like hell. Oh, I love them.

Bangkok. Oh, you know in my retail days, you know, I used to have my Zara and Simba stores in Bangkok and there was rioting in the street. There was I don't know military taken over the government, months of unstability and business keeps going like this. Bangkok is incredible city. Tourism is up. The beauty of their food, the beauty of their people, they welcome you. The immigration, you know, how they welcome you in Bangkok like that. They don't tell you how long, why are you coming here, you know? No, no. So, I like to do business there.

I give you a joke. I was in a NATO conference. You know, these NATO people are good people, but they just not living reality. That's the only problem. They want to go to war. So I told them, guys, you in EU, we love you because you're the history of the world. You know that 70% of tourists they go to Europe because that's the only place with beautiful history. Right? I said but if you guys don't fix your problems in Europe, we have no space for you in UAE. We're busy, like we're full, like really we're fully occupied. Please fix your economic problems and we love you because we have no space for you anymore. I'm not trying to be snobbish but the UAE is doing well because of leadership. Yeah. Wisdom, the type of people who live in this country, locals and non-locals. You can say that oh there is global turbulence, people coming to the UAE. Well not really. Well, why don't they go somewhere else? Why don't they go to, I don't want to mention name, why don't they go to anywhere else? Why is it like Dubai number one place, UAE number one place for all billionaires in the world and businessmen they can go to how many countries in the world? 200. This got nothing to do with that, it got to do with this country, its leadership, its policies, its people, and the environment we live in and consistent trajectory of policy. It's simple. Just like a brand. This brand is a good brand and the shareholders take care of this brand continuously. But this brand is very complex to manage. Healthcare, safety, education, reputation, regulation, you name it.