Umar Kamani, the former boss and founder of fashion website Pretty Little Thing, has pocketed nearly £20million after selling a piece of land in Dubai to an unnamed buyer for a record price.
Kamani, who stepped down as chief executive of the company earlier this month, sold a 24,500 square foot plot of sand on Jumeirah Bay Island for 125million dirhams (£27.3million).
The sale sets a new record for the most expensive vacant land transaction ever recorded on the island and nets the businessman a hefty profit, as he reportedly purchased the plot of land two years ago for 36.5million dirhams (£8million).
Hefty profit: Kamani stepped down as chief executive of Pretty Little Thing earlier this month
Kamani, 35, set up Pretty Little Thing in 2012 with his brother Adam.
In 2020, he sold his remaining 34 per cent stake in the fashion company to Boohoo, which is run by his father Mahmud, for around £330million.
The Dubai sale means Kamani made a 242 per cent profit in two years by just sitting on an empty piece of land, without needing to build on it.
And the businessman could boost his fortunes further, as he owns another identical plot next to the one he just sold, which he plans to offer it for 135million dirhams, according to Bloomberg.
Jumeirah Bay Island is an artificial island off the coast of Dubai where real estate prices are booming thanks to a interest from ultra wealthy investors, many of them Russians.
Jumeirah Bay is an artificial island off the coast of Dubai where real estate prices are booming
Described as the ‘new address of choice for Dubai’s most discerning homeowners’ by Meraas Holding, the government-backed developer, it is home to the Bulgari Hotel and Bulgari Yacht Club.
‘It’s 125 million for sand’, Andrew Cummings, head of prime residential at Knight Frank in Dubai which brokered the deal, told Bloomberg.
‘Everything that’s been making the press has predominantly been spectacular villas, it’s been incredible penthouses and all this stuff.
‘But this is just a massive record breaker for a land plot.’
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