Short letter published in the FT which concerns a report on Mahdi Al Tajir, a 94-year-old Emirati who, in the 1970s, developed close ties to the ruling family of Dubai and subsequently became very wealthy. I must confess I had never heard of him.

Mr Al Tajir bought houses, hotels and estates in the UK – and it was on one of these estates that the Highland Spring mineral water business was founded.

The report is a great piece of investigative journalism by Robert Smith and others looking at how, under the control of the next generation, the family’s assets have been jeopardised by high levels of debt, some of which is in default. The amounts are eye-watering even for a billionaire family – individual loans as high as £347.5m, for example.

It seems like a familiar tale of wealth created by one generation jeopardised by the next through mismanagement, poor judgment or bad luck. 

However, I was intrigued by the other side of the balance sheet: how, exactly, did a list of top credit funds and banks continue to lend stupid amounts to this family? And shouldn't investors in those funds be asking serious questions about due diligence?

 Here’s my letter, with an image from the paper itself attached:

 "The unravelling of the property empire of Mahdi Al Tajir under the stewardship of his sons is presented as "a classic case of the next generation not knowing how to carry on developing the business" ("Highland Spring billionaire's property empire hit by loan defaults and creditor action", FT Weekend, 22nd October 2026). That's one take, although the only real "business" in the mix seems to be Highland Spring mineral water.

"This story could be reframed, instead, as a failure of underwriting by an array of supposedly intelligent and informed lenders spanning global banks, private credit behemoths, hedge funds and boutique lenders."