John Abraham as Akbar in 'Romeo Akbar Walter'. He plays three characters in the movie. Courtesy Viacom18 Media
Abraham as Romeo in 'Romeo Akbar Walter'. Courtesy Viacom18 Media
Abraham as Walter, one of three characters he plays in 'Romeo Akbar Walter'. Courtesy Viacom18 Media
Abraham with girlfriend Priya Runchal, receiving the Most Stylish Man award during the GQ Men of the Year Awards in Mumbai on September 30, 2012. AFP Photo.
John Abraham in an advertisement for Garnier Men in 2009.
Abraham and former girlfriend Bipasha Basu at a screening of the Hindi film ' Pankh' in Mumbai in 2010. AFP Photo.
Abraham walking the ramp at the music launch of the film 'Babul' in Mumbai, in October 2006. AFP Photo.
Indian model and Bollywood actor John Abraham, poses with the new Fazer motorbike at a press conference in New Delhi, on June 10, 2005. AFP Photo.
Celebrity Net Worth: John Abraham buys $9 million villa in Mumbai
In our fortnightly celebrity investment and wealth round-up, Cristiano Ronaldo invests in virtual football and Kanye West lists his Malibu home at a loss
The transaction includes stamp duty of 4.2 million rupees.
The 5,416-square-foot property has about 7,722 square feet of open land, offering significant potential for redevelopment.
Abraham, 51, has a net worth of 2.5 billion rupees ($30 million), according to the Financial Express newspaper.
The Pathaan star lives in a 4,000-square-foot penthouse overlooking the sea in Bandra, about 2km away. He also owns properties in Bel Air, Los Angeles, and central London.
He is a keen investor, taking equity stakes in a wide range of companies, including Noto ice cream and Mumbai-based wellness retailer Guardian Healthcare.
In 2012, the actor launched his own film production house, J.A. Entertainment, and has produced several critically acclaimed films, including VickyDonorand MadrasCafe.
He has also collaborated with denim label Wrangler in addition to co-owning the Indian franchise for US streetwear label Ecko Unltd, according to GQ India.
A former fitness model, Abraham co-owns Indian Super League football team NorthEast United FC and Indian Hockey League team Delhi Waveriders.
He has previously been involved with gyms under the name of JA Fitness in Mumbai and Pune.
Abraham has endorsed and teamed up with many brands over the years, including Reebok, Yamaha and tech accessories retailer U&i.
Cristiano Ronaldo has a total net worth of $600 million, according to wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth. Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo
Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo is among a group of investors who have committed more than $40 million towards the creation of free-to-play association football video game UFL.
The new title is being developed by Cyprus-based Strikerz, the publishing brand of gaming company XTEN Limited.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of this project as UFL can become the new breed in football gaming,” Ronaldo said.
The size of his investment has not been made public.
An official release date for the game has yet to be announced, although a closed testing phase began last autumn.
Strikerz chief executive Eugene Nashilov said working with Ronaldo as a partner and investor would help create a game that fills a gap in the football gaming market “by unifying a rich gaming experience with continuous progress and a fair approach”.
Ronaldo, 38, has a net worth of $600 million, according to wealth tracking website Celebrity Net Worth.
The Portuguese citizen is the world’s highest-paid footballer and is projected to earn $260 million over the current season, according to an estimate by Forbes magazine.
The greater portion of that income – about $200 million – will be compensation from Al Nassr, including wages and financial incentives from commercial agreements arranged by the club, the publication said.
In 2020, he became the first active team-sport athlete to earn more than $1 billion over the course of his career, according to Forbes.
As of the start of this year, Ronaldo had more than 895 million followers on Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) combined.
That popularity means the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is also a major brand magnet. He has partnerships and endorsements with the likes of luxury watch company Jacob & Co, cryptocurrency exchange Binance and a lifetime deal with Nike.
In addition, he has extended his CR7 clothing and accessories brand into hotels and gyms.
In November, Ronaldo became the subject of a class-action lawsuit over promoting Binance, with investors claiming his endorsement led them to make loss-making investments.
Binance announced a CR7 collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in 2022.
Ronaldo has invested in at least five companies, according to investor database Pitchbook. They include watch market Chrono24 and fantasy sports platform and NFT cricket start-up FanCraze.
Last September, he also made a significant investment in Cidade do Padel, a 17-court padel complex in Oeiras, Portugal.
He owns or has owned homes in Lisbon and Madeira in his native Portugal, Turin in Italy, the Spanish capital of Madrid, Cheshire in England and New York City.
Kanye West, 46, has a net worth of $400 million, according to Forbes. AP
He purchased the Tadao Ando-designed beachfront home for $57.3 million in an off-market deal in 2021, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The four-bedroom home, built about a decade ago, requires extensive interior work worth several million dollars, estate agent Jason Oppenheim told the publication.
West, 46, reportedly attempted to turn the home into a bomb shelter, removing all the windows and electricity. He reportedly owes at least $1 million in remodelling fees, according to Sky News.
He has a net worth of $400 million, according to Forbes.
In 2022, the publication revised his net worth down from $1.9 billion after sportswear retailer adidas ended a nine-year partnership over his anti-Semitic remarks.
The deal for West’s Yeezy line of trainers was worth $1.5 billion, calculated on a multiple of annual earnings.
His fortune is now derived from cash, property, the Yeezy brand, his music catalogue and a 5 per cent stake in former wife Kim Kardashian’s Skims shapewear brand.
His real estate portfolio alone is worth about $100 million. It includes property in Chicago and the state of Wyoming, as well as other homes in California.
West was due to release Vultures, his comeback album with fellow musician Ty Dolla Sign, on January 12, but it has since been postponed. It was scheduled for release on two separate dates in December.
His music catalogue generates upwards of $13.25 million in publishing royalties annually, according to estimates by Billboard magazine.
However, that total includes other songwriters’ shares, putting West’s annual share of royalties at an estimated $5 million.
In 2022, it was reported that the catalogue was for sale, with the highest estimates coming in at $175 million.
Last week, the UK’s DailyMail newspaper reported that West owes more than $1 million in back taxes, including liens against Yeezy Apparel and levies on homes he owned with Kardashian.
Actress Mouni Roy has invested in VRO Hospitality. Photo: IIFA
Mouni Roy
Bollywood actor Mouni Roy is among a clutch of investors in VRO Hospitality, a food and beverage retailer based in Bengaluru, India.
The $10 million bridge round is a mixture of equity and debt. It was led by India’s Axis Bank and venture fund Gruhas and drew participation from UC Inclusive Ventures, UAE-based NB Ventures and investor Kunal Shah, according to investor database Crunchbase.
The funds will go towards product development and portfolio expansion, the company said.
Roy, 38, has a net worth of 410 million rupees ($4.9 million), according to calculations by the News 18 website.
She made her acting debut in 2006 with a role in the popular soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
Roy and VRO are also partners in Mumbai restaurant Badmaash.
In 2022, the Brahmastra-Part 1 actor joined hands with cloud kitchen start-up Bigspoon during a 1 billion rupee funding round, taking a development and endorsement role.
Last year, she launched delivery-only brand The Pizza People with Bigspoon.
In June, Roy joined a $2 million seed round in trainer resale website The Mainstreet Marketplace.
Other investors included Gruhas, Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal, comedian Tanmay Bhatt and musician Nikhil Chinappa, the Outlook Indiamagazine reported.
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
