Is Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon Taking a 49% Stake in Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial?
Highlights
- Sheikh Tahnoon-linked StringZ Holding reportedly owns 49% of WLTC Holdings.
- A Trump family-affiliated entity owns another 38% of WLTC Holdings.
- World Liberty received conditional OCC approval for a national trust bank in August.
World Liberty Financial is facing fresh attention after new details emerged about the ownership of its planned banking business. According to a report, the investors linked to Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan control a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings.
WLTC Holdings was created for World Liberty’s planned bank, which recently received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Despite the development, the WLFI price is up 2.38% to trade at $0.05975 as of press time.
Sheikh Tahnoon-Linked Investors Hold Major WLTC Stake
According to the WSJ, StringZ Holding RSC owns 49% of WLTC Holdings. Sheikh Tahnoon and other investors are reportedly behind StringZ Holding, while a Trump family-linked entity controls another 38%.
The reported stake adds to Tahnoon’s existing financial ties with World Liberty. He and other investors previously backed a $500 million investment in the company, which reportedly gave the group a 49% interest in World Liberty itself.
That earlier deal also directed about $263 million to Trump family entities, according to Donald Trump’s financial disclosure. The new ownership details therefore extend an already established relationship between the UAE-linked investors and World Liberty.
World Liberty Moves Closer to Launching a Bank
The ownership disclosure comes as World Liberty pushes deeper into regulated financial services. The OCC recently granted the company preliminary conditional approval to establish a federally chartered national trust bank.
The bank would focus on issuing, redeeming, and safeguarding USD1, World Liberty’s dollar-backed stablecoin. USD1 currently has a market value of about $4 billion and is backed by U.S. Treasurys and cash equivalents.
World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff said the company aims “to build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world.” However, the bank must still meet additional OCC requirements before it can begin operations.
UAE Links Draw Added Scrutiny
Tahnoon’s role has attracted attention because he is the UAE’s national security adviser and the brother of the country’s president. He also controls G42, a state-backed artificial intelligence company.
At the same time, the Trump administration has negotiated with the UAE over access to advanced U.S. AI chips. G42 has received approval to purchase U.S. chips, which has increased scrutiny around the broader relationship.
World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said the company is “a private American financial technology company, not a political organization.” He also said the business does not receive special treatment.
Amid these concerns, World Liberty is also involved in a legal dispute with Justin Sun, who invested $45 million in the project. In a recent X post, Sun said a California federal judge allowed his individual claims to remain in open court.
Sun alleges that World Liberty improperly froze or restricted his WLFI tokens and is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and has obtained an order preventing the permanent disposal of disputed tokens.
Despite this, the Trump-backed company has not accepted Sun’s allegations as facts while it advances its banking plans and USD1 operations.
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