Shaher Moh'd Ali Awartani
Chairman, Co-founding Partner, and Investor — Abu Dhabi, UAE
Shaher Moh'd Ali Awartani is an Abu Dhabi-based businessman and investor with a career spanning nearly three decades across construction, real estate, private equity, hospitality, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, and regulated investment advisory.
As Chairman and Co-founding Partner of Silver Coast Construction & Boring LLC, Shaher Awartani has led the execution of projects totaling USD 1.35 billion across the UAE. His investment portfolio includes co-founded and co-invested enterprises alongside some of the Gulf's most prominent institutional names — including Mubadala Investment Company, InvestCorp of Bahrain, and Wisayah Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco.
Shaher Awartani is also a Board member of Global Gate Capital Partners in Geneva, a firm managing more than USD 2 billion in assets under management, and the co-founder of Yasa Capital (DIFC) Limited, a Dubai Financial Services Authority-regulated investment and advisory firm.
Beyond business, Shaher Awartani maintains a sustained philanthropic commitment — funding private scholarships and supporting pediatric healthcare institutions in Washington, D.C.
Biography
Shaher Moh'd Ali Awartani was born and educated internationally before building one of the more diversified investment records among Abu Dhabi-based private investors. His academic path took him from the United Kingdom to the United States: he completed secondary education at Queen's College Taunton in Somerset, England, before earning a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Toledo in 1986. That foundation in management — covering organizational structure, financial analysis, and operational decision-making — informed the disciplined, process-oriented approach he would apply across every business he co-founded.
In 1997, Shaher Awartani co-founded Silver Coast Construction & Boring LLC in Abu Dhabi. Over the following decades, the company grew to employ up to 4,500 people and executed construction projects across the UAE valued at USD 1.35 billion. Silver Coast remains the institutional anchor of his professional career — a demonstration of what sustained operational focus, effective workforce management, and long-term commitment to the UAE market can produce.
From that foundation, Shaher Awartani extended his activity into the financial and investment sector. In 2013, he co-founded Equalis Capital Ltd in the Dubai International Financial Centre alongside H.E. Yousif Al Otaiba — a proprietary investment company registered within one of the world's most tightly regulated financial jurisdictions. Two years later, in 2015, he was invited to join Global Gate Capital Partners in Geneva as a shareholder and Board member. Global Gate manages more than USD 2 billion in assets under management across real estate and private equity, and the board appointment extended Shaher Awartani's professional footprint into the international investment ecosystem.
The years that followed brought further co-founding activity across multiple sectors. In 2017, Shaher Awartani co-founded High Point Real Estate LLC in Dubai — alongside H.E. Yousif Al Otaiba, H.E. Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, and Mr. Ahmed Ismail Bashee — a venture that developed and now owns two residential assets in Dubai valued at USD 100 million. That same year, he became a co-founder of Café Milano Abu Dhabi, located within the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi and operated in partnership with H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba and Mubadala Investment Company. Café Milano Abu Dhabi is the only international location of the acclaimed Washington, D.C. institution.
In 2020, Shaher Awartani and his partners — including Yousef Al Otaiba and the Bashee family — became substantial shareholders in Reem Hospital Abu Dhabi, joining a co-investor group that includes InvestCorp of Bahrain, Mubadala Investment Company (which holds a 25% stake), and Wisayah Capital, a 100% owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco.
In 2024, Shaher Awartani co-founded Yasa Capital (DIFC) Limited, an investment and advisory company regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority as a Category 4 entity. The establishment of Yasa Capital represents the most recent formalization of his investment activity within the DIFC regulatory framework — a jurisdiction to which he has returned consistently throughout his financial career.
Shaher Awartani is also Co-founder of Abaad Wood Industries, founded in 2010, adding industrial manufacturing to a portfolio that spans seven distinct sectors.
Across each of these ventures, his role has been that of co-founder and active principal — not a passive shareholder, but a participant in the structural and strategic decisions that define how each enterprise operates. His consistent choice to build within the UAE's most rigorous regulatory and institutional frameworks, and to partner with principals of the highest professional standing, reflects an investment philosophy grounded in governance, long-horizon commitment, and institutional-grade partnership.
A record built across seven sectors over nearly three decades.
Role: Chairman and Co-founding Partner
Established: 1997 | Abu Dhabi, UAE
Silver Coast Construction & Boring LLC is the founding enterprise of Shaher Awartani's business career. Co-founded in Abu Dhabi in 1997, the company has grown to employ up to 4,500 people and has executed and completed construction projects across the UAE totaling USD 1.35 billion in value. Silver Coast remains the operational anchor of Shaher Awartani's professional record.
Role: Co-founder
Established: 2010
Abaad Wood Industries is an industrial manufacturing venture co-founded by Shaher Awartani in 2010. The company operates in the wood products manufacturing sector, contributing to the UAE's domestic production capacity and serving demand across construction, interior fit-out, and related industries.
Role: Co-founder
Established: 2013 | Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
Equalis Capital Ltd is a proprietary investment company registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), co-founded by Shaher Awartani alongside H.E. Yousif Al Otaiba. Its DIFC registration reflects a commitment to operating within an internationally recognized regulatory framework governed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
Role: Shareholder and Board Member
Joined: 2015 | Geneva, Switzerland
In 2015, Shaher Awartani was invited to become a shareholder and Board member of Global Gate Capital Partners, a Geneva-headquartered investment firm managing more than USD 2 billion in assets under management across real estate and private equity. Board-level participation at Global Gate extends Shaher Awartani's investment presence to the international private equity market.
Role: Co-founder
Established: 2017 | Dubai, UAE
Partners: H.E. Yousif Al Otaiba, H.E. Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mr. Ahmed Ismail Bashee
High Point Real Estate LLC was co-founded in Dubai in 2017. The company developed and currently owns two residential assets in Dubai with a combined value of USD 100 million. The partnership structure behind High Point — which includes some of the UAE's most prominent institutional and investment figures — reflects the caliber of co-founder that has characterized Shaher Awartani's ventures throughout his career.
Role: Co-founder
Established: 2017 | Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi, UAE
Partners: H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba, Mubadala Investment Company
Café Milano Abu Dhabi is located within the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi and is the only international outpost of the acclaimed Washington, D.C. dining institution. Co-founded by Shaher Awartani alongside H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba and Mubadala Investment Company — Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund — the venture represents a convergence of institutional capital and globally recognized hospitality.
Role: Substantial Shareholder
Investment: 2020 | Abu Dhabi, UAE
Co-investors: H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba, the Bashee family, InvestCorp of Bahrain, Mubadala Investment Company (25% stake), Wisayah Capital (100% owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco)
In 2020, Shaher Awartani joined a co-investment group acquiring a substantial stake in Reem Hospital Abu Dhabi. The co-investor structure — comprising a Bahraini alternative investment firm, a sovereign wealth fund, and a Saudi Aramco subsidiary — represents one of the most institutionally concentrated transaction groups in Shaher Awartani's career.
Role: Co-founder
Established: 2024 | Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE
Regulator: Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) — Category 4
Yasa Capital (DIFC) Limited is an investment and advisory firm co-founded by Shaher Awartani in 2024 and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority as a Category 4 entity. Its establishment within the DIFC continues Shaher Awartani's pattern of anchoring financial ventures within the UAE's highest-standard regulatory frameworks.