Overview
- Company records reported by the Wall Street Journal show Aryam Investment 1 agreed on Jan. 16, 2025, to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, with Eric Trump signing the deal.
- About $187 million from the initial $250 million payment went to Trump-linked entities and at least $31 million to entities tied to co-founder Steve Witkoff’s family, with another $31 million to other co-founders.
- The investment is backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser, and made Aryam the largest outside shareholder as two Aryam executives with G42 ties joined World Liberty’s five-member board.
- Reporting links the deal’s timing to subsequent U.S. moves expanding UAE access to advanced AI chips, though World Liberty and the White House reject any connection and say the president had no role in the transaction.
- Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, call the arrangement unprecedented and seek investigations, as public reporting notes unanswered questions about the distribution of the second $250 million tranche.