{{Short description|Real estate lawyer}} '''Martin Edelman''' is a real estate lawyer who serves as advisor to the ruling royal UAE family.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |date=26 February 2025 |title=The 'Spy Sheikh' Taking the AI World by Storm |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/abu-dhabi-spy-sheikh-ai-c4a9d48c |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2025 |title=Abu Dhabi’s ‘Man in Manhattan’ Is Key to Unlocking Trump Deals |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-05-16/new-york-power-broker-behind-uae-s-global-deals-is-key-to-trump-access |work=Bloomberg News |language=en}}</ref> He is a close advisor to UAE royal Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-09-15 |title=Anatomy of Two Giant Deals: The U.A.E. Got Chips. The Trump Team Got Crypto Riches. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/politics/trump-uae-chips-witkoff-world-liberty.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He works for the law firm Paul Hastings.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024 |title=How a real estate mogul became Trump’s Middle East point man |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-wall-street-journal/how-a-real-estate-mogul-became-trumps-middle-east-point-man/news-story/4d55a0f3d6a51112b44e5809b66d8623?amp&nk=e893cf75a5cdec77d62077f7c0869aad-1732039256 |work=The Australian}}</ref>
== Early life == He was raised in a Jewish family in Westchester County, New York.<ref name=":1" /> His father was a Russian immigrant to the United States.<ref name=":1" /> Edelman studied at Princeton University in the 1960s.<ref name=":1" /> He studied at Columbia Law School.<ref name=":1" /> He was drafted and served multiple tours in the Vietnam War over a three-year period.<ref name=":1" />
== Career == Upon returning to New York, Edelman became a high-profile lawyer in real estate.<ref name=":1" />
Edelman has since 2002 cultivated relationships in the UAE.<ref name=":0" /> 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."<ref name=":1" />
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.<ref name=":0" />
Edelman is general counsel at G42 and an advisor at Royal Group, two companies owned by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<ref name=":0" /> He is a board member of Manchester City FC and helped the Abu Dhabi government buy Manchester City in 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Belson |first=Ken |date=2013-05-25 |title=The Power Behind Manchester City Is Content to Stay Out of Sight in New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/sports/soccer/sheik-mansour-powerful-hand-behind-manchester-city-is-content-to-stay-in-background-in-new-york.html |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
Edelman was named by the Donald Trump administration as a member on the executive board to oversee Gaza.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Magid |first=Jacob |date=2026-01-29 |title=Board of Peace proposal appears to relegate Gaza panel with Turkey, Qatar to ‘advisory’ role |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/board-of-peace-proposal-appears-to-relegate-gaza-panel-with-turkey-qatar-to-advisory-role/ |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelman, Martin}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American lawyers Category:Real property lawyers Category:Paul Hastings people Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent