DP World

DP World is a ports and logistics company controlled by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It was created in November 2005 by integrating the Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Ports International and operates the Jebel Ali port and terminals on several continents. Its 2006 purchase of the British operator P&O, which would have given it terminal operations in six major U.S. ports, was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and then met sustained congressional opposition that led to a rewriting of the foreign-investment review law. Until February 13, 2026 its chairman and chief executive was Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, whose correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein was released by the Justice Department in 2026; he was replaced three days after his name was read on the floor of the House.¹²³

The 2006 Ports Controversy

DP World's bid for the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) was announced in November 2005, and the formal CFIUS review began in December. The George W. Bush White House stated in a fact sheet of February 22, 2006 that "Twelve Federal agencies and the government's counterterrorism experts closely and carefully reviewed the transaction," that the Department of Homeland Security had "reached an agreement with DP World to mitigate security concerns," and that DP World had "signed a letter of assurances making commitments to meet and maintain security standards for the port terminals that they will own and operate in the United States." It described the UAE as "a solid partner in the War on Terror" that had "worked with us to stop terrorist financing and money laundering," noted that Dubai was "the first Middle Eastern entity" to join the Container Security Initiative and the Department of Energy's Megaports Initiative, and said that "The United States government has a strong working relationship with DP World." President Bush said on February 21: "If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward."⁴

The proposed acquisition of "major operations in six major U.S. ports" came under "intense scrutiny" in Congress. Members of Congress argued that the 1992 Byrd amendment required a full 45-day investigation of any acquirer "controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government"; CFIUS representatives told the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 23, 2006 that they had conceded DP World was government-controlled but had concluded during the 30-day review that the transaction "could not affect the national security." The reaction led the administration to change its review practice in late 2006 and Congress to pass the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007.¹

Ownership and the 2020 Delisting

A minority of DP World's shares traded on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange until 2020. On February 17, 2020 the company announced that it would delist and return to full state ownership. Port and Free Zone World, a wholly owned subsidiary of the government investment company Dubai World, already owned 80.45 percent and agreed to buy the remaining 19.55 percent for about 2.7 billion dollars, or 16.75 dollars a share. As part of the transaction DP World's parent was to pay Dubai World 5.15 billion dollars "to assist it in repaying its outstanding obligations to banks," so that DP World could operate "without any restrictions from Dubai World's creditors," and DP World was to borrow a further 8.1 billion dollars. Bin Sulayem said that "returning to private ownership will free DP World from the demands of the public market for short term returns." DP World had by then expanded into East Africa, where the Emirati government had begun building military bases.⁵

Epstein

A DP World email chain of January 25 and 26, 2012, in which the company's chief operating officer, Anil Wats, asked bin Sulayem which guests he wished to invite to his induction into the International Maritime Hall of Fame of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey at the Grand Hyatt New York on May 9, 2012, reached Epstein under a note reading: "Dear Jeffrey Will you be able to attend and can you suggest me names of others I can invite to sit at my table."⁶

On November 29, 2016 Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff, the office of Joi Ito at the MIT Media Lab and two employees of DP World "with the Chairman's office" arranged a visit by bin Sulayem, set up by Epstein, to the Media Lab and then to Martin Nowak's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University. Ito wrote that he was "locking in a bunch of meetings for Sultan at the Media Lab from 9:30AM-11AM."⁷

After Epstein's July 2019 arrest, JPMorgan Chase's internal review known as Project Jeep reported that Epstein "appears to have a close relationship with Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem who is a senior UAE official involved in ownership of the Dubai Ports."⁸ Epstein arranged for bin Sulayem's name to appear as ultimate beneficial owner on contractual paperwork for the purchase of Great St. James through Great St. Jim LLC; reporting indicated that bin Sulayem had declined the request and that no signature of his appeared on the documents.⁹

The 2026 Removal

On February 10, 2026 Representative Ro Khanna read bin Sulayem's name on the House floor among six men he said the department had redacted "for no apparent reason." A department spokesperson said bin Sulayem appeared more than 4,700 times in the files.¹⁰ The released correspondence included an exchange in which Epstein wrote to bin Sulayem's email address, "I loved the torture video."² In the same week British International Investment, the British government's development investor, and the Canadian pension fund La Caisse, which had invested 2.5 billion dollars in 2022 in Jebel Ali Port, the Jebel Ali Free Zone and the National Industries Park, paused new investment with DP World. On February 13, 2026 the Dubai Media Office announced, without naming bin Sulayem, that Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, had been appointed chairman and Yuvraj Narayan, the former chief financial officer, group chief executive; British International Investment said the same day that it would resume investing. DP World did not respond to the Associated Press's requests for comment. Bin Sulayem has not been accused of a crime.²³