Martin Edelman is a real estate lawyer who serves as advisor to the ruling royal UAE family. [1] [2] He is a close advisor to UAE royal Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan. [1] [3] He works for the law firm Paul Hastings. [4]
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]