A senior adviser to Dubai Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum is believed to have left the role, even as the prince’s revamped website offered no hints as to whether he still planned to return to Hong Kong.
Maktoum’s official website was online after undergoing maintenance since April. The site has an updated profile and a blog that includes highlights such as a meeting with luxury goods company founder Tonino Lamborghini.
The new webpage features an “under maintenance” banner but no longer lists core members of the prince’s team.
William Tien, who was earlier named as the director of international strategic relations for the prince’s private office, had updated his personal LinkedIn profile to show he left the role in May.
His profile also showed that he started a new role at Silverbear Capital Inc as a Dubai-based partner that same month.
In March, the Post reported that Tien, a Singapore passport holder, had a history of unsuccessful blockchain ventures and was involved in a solar plant deal in the United States that had collapsed due to a lack of funding.
Tien also served as the office’s representative during the signing of a cooperation deal with the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong in May.
Eleanor Jane Mak, who served as the office’s vice-chairwoman and CEO, told the Post last month that Tien arranged a Bloomberg TV interview for the sheikh and planned his trip to mainland China in March.
Maktoum drew public attention when he called off the inauguration ceremony for the US$500 million family office in Hong Kong at the eleventh hour in March due to “some urgent unexpected private matters”.
His office had said that Maktoum was set to return to Hong Kong by the end of May after its opening ceremony was cancelled at the eleventh hour in late March.
Mak had said in the interview that his visit might slip into June.
But a protocol officer for the Dubai office later claimed Mak was not authorised to give comment, while the signboard for the family office in Hong Kong was later found in late May to have been taken down.
The updated website featured no mentions of Hong Kong.
The website also updated the scope of work for the sheikh’s office, which covered “market analysis, business strategy, regulatory compliance, and risk management”.
It also said the office would help partners “tap into a vast network of high-profile contacts and influential figures within the UAE and beyond”.
The website’s new blog had five posts made in the past four days, with the most recent one touching on a partnership deal signed by Maktoum and the Dubai-based Dr Al Sabhan Legal Group on June 8.
The post offered no details about the nature and scope of the agreement.
The four other posts detailed Maktoum’s business engagements, including a “DBR project meeting” with social media personality El-Hachemi Sabi, who has about 1.4 million Instagram followers and is described as a “top one French influencer”.
Another listed a meeting between the prince and Cordell Broadus, the 27-year-old son of rapper Snoop Dogg, and said “we will do everything possible to create a long-term partnership in web, gaming, and influencer marketing”.
Maktoum was also pictured next to Lamborghini, with the office saying it was discussing “future collaboration opportunities” involving the “development of certain projects” with the business founder.
The Post has reached out to Tien, Mak, the prince’s private office and Silverbear Capital Inc for comment.
