Martin Edelman

He was raised in a Jewish family in Westchester County, New York.^[2] His father was a Russian immigrant to the United States.^[2] Edelman studied at Princeton University in the 1960s.^[2] He studied at Columbia Law School.^[2] He was drafted and served multiple tours in the Vietnam War over a three-year period.^[2]

Upon returning to New York, Edelman became a high-profile lawyer in real estate.^[2]

Edelman has since 2002 cultivated relationships in the UAE.^[1] Reflecting on his ties to the UAE government, Edelman has said, "That dramatically changed my life. I’ve gotten to do everything I ever thought I wanted to do and then 4,000 things that I never thought about before."^[2]

Edelman played a key role in a secret 2025 deal where Tahnoun's company G42 purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, a Trump family business, with the Trump administration subsequently overriding national security concerns to approve the sale of advanced AI chips to the UAE.^[1]

Edelman is general counsel at G42 and an advisor at Royal Group, two companies owned by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.^[1] He is a board member of Manchester City FC and helped the Abu Dhabi government buy Manchester City in 2008.^[5][2]

Edelman was named by the Donald Trump administration as a member on the executive board to oversee Gaza.^[6]