Happy Thursday everyone!

Michigan sent shockwaves through the Arab business world overnight as Abdul El-Sayed, son of Egyptian immigrants, won a Senate seat and became America’s first Muslim senator. Replit’s Amjad Masad joked about “Shawerma law,” Aramex founder Fadi Ghandour posted watermelon emojis, and Dr. Habib Al Mulla asked whether common ground is possible. Closer to home, Maknoon founder Hanan Wehbi called out Shark Tank Dubai, saying rejection is fine but silence isn’t. And on Kalshi, traders give the UAE an 82% chance of raising its US Treasury holdings this year, while Saudi Arabia sits at 40%.

Markets

Arab Business World Cheers Egyptian-American Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate Win

Prominent Arab founders and executives, from Silicon Valley to the Gulf, celebrated Wednesday after Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, won Michigan’s Senate race and will become the nation’s first Muslim senator.

In his victory remarks, El-Sayed thanked AIPAC, which he said had spent $42 million against his campaign, for “the opportunity to beat you twice.” The Associated Press put the group’s spending at nearly $30 million against him in the primary, its largest investment in a single race.

Replit founder Amjad Masad, the Jordanian-American tech billionaire of Palestinian heritage, was among the first to react. He joked that he “can’t believe Michigan is under Shawerma law now.” Replying to the clip, he quipped that it would have worked “if only AIPAC spent a trillion more dollars.”

Aramex founder Fadi Ghandour shared the clip on LinkedIn with “How about that” and three watermelon emojis. Ghandour co-founded Aramex in 1982 and is now Executive Chairman of Wamda Group.

Dr. Habib Al Mulla, founder of Dubai-based Habib Al Mulla & Partners, which was founded in 1984, called the rise of Arab Americans in US politics a “radical shift.” He asked whether common ground could be found despite differences.

El-Sayed, a former public health official who had never held elected office, rose from a double-digit gubernatorial primary loss in 2018. “You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates,” he told supporters.

Meta, Stripe and 500 Global to Meet at Doers Summit Dubai

Doers Summit Dubai returns to Dubai Silicon Oasis on November 25 and 26, bringing together global technology leaders, startup founders and investors from Europe, the GCC and Asia.

Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the summit will feature representatives from Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Intel, IBM, Salesforce, Stripe, Spotify, ElevenLabs, Bosch and Honeywell.

Founders from Airalo, Wargaming, Plan A, Panthera and Swapp will join investors from 500 Global, Eurazeo, Endeavor, Speedinvest, BECO Capital, Shorooq Partners, Antler and Plug and Play.

The two-day event will feature investor meetings, networking sessions, roundtables and workshops designed to connect businesses with potential partners and investment opportunities.

In collaboration with Smashi Business, the first 25 readers to register using code DS26SMSH will receive a free Doer Pass. The code expires once all 25 passes are claimed. Register here.

UAE Founder to Shark Tank Dubai: Rejection Is Fine, Silence Is Not

Hanan Wehbi, founder of UAE-based olive oil gifting brand Maknoon, has publicly urged Shark Tank Dubai’s production team to show founders basic courtesy after, she says, she was left without word following the Season 4 selection process.

Maknoon is a luxury gifting brand that supports farmers and producers in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Wehbi says the show approached her three times across different seasons before she finally agreed. Production then moved quickly, she wrote, asking for information almost daily, including confidential financials and personal videos. She admitted rehearsing her pitch in front of a mirror.

Then came “radio silence.”

She acknowledged that not everyone can be chosen, but said a short message with feedback “would have made all the difference.”

“For the production team, this is a show,” she wrote. “For us founders, this is our livelihood.”

Dubai Media announced the fourth season in October 2026, after investments exceeding AED 42 million in the third.

UAE Ranks No. 2 in Kalshi Treasury Market as Saudi Arabia Lags in Seventh

What Happened

Traders on Kalshi give the UAE an 82% chance of increasing its US Treasury holdings this year, second only to the UK at 96%. France (57%), India (53%) and Brazil (44%) follow. Saudi Arabia ranks seventh at 40%, tied with Canada and ahead of South Korea (38%) and Norway (35%). Treasury holdings measure how much U.S. government debt a country owns.

Why It Matters

The UAE’s odds line up with the data. Its holdings rose 19% year on year to $114.8 billion in June, the biggest gain among the top 20 foreign holders. Saudi Arabia is a larger holder, at $142.4 billion in July, but its November 2025 level was $148.8 billion. The market suggests traders see the Gulf’s two biggest Treasury holders on different paths.

What’s Next

The result will be settled by the US Treasury’s monthly TIC data. The market page shows a Feb. 18, 3 p.m. ET marker, though the date’s meaning should be confirmed on Kalshi. Trading volume is only about $15,400, so the odds could move sharply on new data releases.

👨‍💻From Smashi Business’ Desk

• Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) CEO Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi has publicly addressed the sovereign wealth fund’s participation in the $110 billion Skydance-Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal for the first time.⁠

• Egyptian-American creator Kareem, the man behind viral interview series @subwaytakes, has been named one of just 25 winners of the 2026 Instagram Rings Awards.

• A $12 chicken sandwich has sparked a debate over wealth and inequality in Lebanon.

• An Islamic brokerage founder says Anthropic wouldn’t make the cut on his app.

• An Emirati AI company has outperformed Microsoft, ElevenLabs, Google and OpenAI in Arabic speech recognition accuracy.

🔍In other news…

• GCC rejects US claim Hormuz could become ‘worthless’

• Aramco's Q3 profit rises by a third despite attacks

• Saudi Arabia Pushes Ahead With IPO Rule Changes Despite Banker Warnings

• Dubai's Emaar plans offer to buy out construction arm in $3.4 billion deal

• US President Donald Trump says Washington will stop giving Israel $4 billion annually after this year.

• UN shipping chief criticises huge payouts for crews risking Hormuz

• UAE Citizen CZ Says ‘I Don’t Make Threats’ After Musk Trolls Binance Hack

• Lebanese Dating App Taaruf Reaches 80,000 Monthly Users, Lands $400,000 Shark Tank Offer

🦄 World of Startups

• NoorNation: Egypt-based cleantech startup NoorNation raised $1.05 million in seed funding from Linah Farms, Catalyst Fund and KBW Ventures to expand its solar-powered irrigation and desalination solutions.

• Silkhaus: UAE-based short-term rental startup Silkhaus is winding down its holiday-home business in the country, with owner agreements set to end on November 11, 2026.

• MNT-Halan: Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan received a $71.2 million capital injection from its parent company, MNT Investments BV, increasing the parent’s stake to 80.47% shortly after the fintech’s $139.5 million IPO.

• Alpha Dhabi: UAE-based Alpha Dhabi Holding committed $1 billion to Alpha Wave III, a global investment fund managed by Alpha Wave Global that focuses on high-growth companies, with AI at its core.

• Mubadala Capital: UAE-based Mubadala Capital secured a minority equity investment from US asset manager Apollo Global Management, which manages $1.05 trillion in assets, with the investment value undisclosed.

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