Ports & Logistics:
The DP World Corridor

Who he was. Chairman and Group CEO of DP World — among the largest port operators on earth, operating terminals across six continents. Born into the Sulayem family, one of Dubai's business and political dynasties, active since the early 20th century. His father was a key advisor to Dubai's ruling House of Maktoum.

His position in the files. Named more than 9,400 times in Epstein's emails. Described by Epstein as one of his "most trusted friends." Their documented correspondence runs from 2009 to 2018, covering — per AFP's review — "intimate matters, meetings, introductions and business opportunities."

An undated photograph in the files shows Epstein and bin Sulayem cooking together.

The designation. In the February 2026 public release, he was named as a co-conspirator in the sex trafficking ring led by Jeffrey Epstein. He has not been charged.

The resignation. He stepped down from DP World with immediate effect on February 13, 2026 — days after the files became public. Essa Kazim, previously Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, became chairman; Yuvraj Narayan, deputy CEO and CFO since 2005, became Group CEO.

The connector role. Bin Sulayem introduced Epstein to Karim Wade in Paris in November 2010 — the relationship that would cost Epstein over $1 million. He was simultaneously introducing Epstein to heads of state across the Gulf, Africa, and Asia.

April 9, 2013 — Nairobi. Bin Sulayem emailed Epstein: "I am in Nairobi for the inauguration of Uhuru Kenyatta as president of Kenya, whom I know very well."

Epstein replied three hours later: "Any plans for NY?"

This is the entire transaction. Access to a newly inaugurated head of state, offered and received as casual social currency. Bin Sulayem was not asking for anything. He was demonstrating standing to a man whose good opinion he apparently valued.

October 24, 2014 — Mombasa. Eighteen months later: "I am in Mombasa had a three hour meeting with president Uhuru Kenyatta we are going to build a big logistic park to serve Kenya south Sudan Uganda central African republic and Rwanda."

A three-hour head-of-state meeting and a five-country regional infrastructure plan, reported the same day to a registered sex offender in New York.

January 23, 2019. Six months before Epstein's arrest, bin Sulayem replied to Epstein about a trip to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia for a DP World agreement signing, then plans to "fly to Uganda and Tanzania." The relationship was operationally active until the end.

The expansion. The year after the Mombasa meeting, DP World began rapid expansion across East and West Africa, securing port concessions spanning 20 to 30 years in:

• Kenya — March 2022 concession for berths at Mombasa, Lamu and Kisumu. Kenya Kwanza Coalition leaders accused Kenyatta of secretly auctioning national assets, with claims the agreement was sealed during what was publicly billed as Raila Odinga's birthday party in Mombasa. The request letter was addressed directly to bin Sulayem. The deal collapsed amid election-year politics.
• Tanzania — October 2023, a 30-year concession for four berths at Dar es Salaam Port. Initial commitment $250 million, potentially growing to $1 billion. Bin Sulayem called it "a milestone in enhancing the supply chain infrastructure in East Africa."
• Senegal, Angola, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo — further concessions in the same period.

What a 30-year concession means. Operational control of a nation's principal maritime gateway for a generation. For landlocked states — Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Central African Republic — it means a foreign corporation controls their access to global trade.

BII suspends. British International Investment — the UK government's development finance institution and a DP World investor in four African ports — suspended all new investment following the revelations:

"We are shocked by the facts emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. In light of the allegations, we will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company."

La Caisse suspends. The Canadian pension fund also suspended ties.

Both resume. Within days of bin Sulayem's resignation, both institutions restored their partnerships. La Caisse: "The company has taken the necessary measures. We will quickly get to work with DP World's new leadership to continue our partnership in port projects around the world."

The accountability lasted precisely as long as one man's job. No review of the concessions themselves was announced. No African government reopened a contract. No regulator examined whether the access documented in the emails had any bearing on the awards.

The ports thread is the clearest evidence that Epstein's power was not transactional. He sold nothing to Kenya or Tanzania. He bought nothing. On the available record he never set foot in either country.

What the files show is a man so valuable to know that the chairman of one of the world's largest port operators emailed him from a presidential inauguration and from a head-of-state meeting — not to ask for anything, but to report.

That is the asset Epstein actually accumulated: a position in the social hierarchy of the globally powerful such that access to a president became something you told him about.

And six African countries now operate their principal maritime infrastructure under concessions awarded to a company whose chairman spent a decade cultivating that man.