Like the sun rising and setting, the Boris Johnson rumour mill is turning again. He’s that dependable, a seemingly never-ending source of gossip and intrigue.
This time, the drums are beating about his new company, Better Earth Limited. Incorporated at Companies House in London, Better Earth names the former prime minister as a director, along with Amir Adnani, president and CEO of Uranium Energy Corp. The latter is a US mining and exploration company promoted by Steve Bannon, former adviser to Donald Trump.
Adnani has gone onshore with Boris, possibly because even the ex-PM would baulk at heading an offshore company registered in a secretive tax haven. That is Mr Adnani’s usual route, with a network of businesses listed under his name in the British Virgin Islands. Mr Johnson is credited as a director and co-chairman. As if that was not enough, to send tongues wagging even more furiously, Charlotte Owen is cited as Better Earth’s vice-president.
She is the junior political adviser elevated by Johnson in his resignation honours to the House of Lords at the age of just 30. Quite what he saw in Baroness Owen that caused her to be anointed, while other more senior, longer-serving male and female staff were overlooked completely or did not receive the same high accolade, was the subject of enormous controversy and speculation.
Speaks frequently without saying much
Since becoming Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, her hometown – a title she will hold for life – she has spoken fairly frequently in the Lords without saying very much at all. Mostly she has talked about technology issues. She mentioned climate change only once, in her maiden speech, in which she also thanked Johnson for “putting a great deal of trust in me”.
Roles in environment and climate do not figure on Baroness Owen’s CV. Now, though, Charlotte and her ex-boss are firmly back in the headlines and she has a senior role in his company that appears to be centred on the warming planet.
After a lull, we’re back on characteristic Johnsonian ground. He reassured the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which oversees ex-ministerial appointments, that he “did not meet with, nor did you make any decisions specific to Better Earth during your time in office”.
Links to Adnani
Since then it’s been discovered that Mr Johnson met Scott Melbye, the executive vice president of Uranium Energy Corp, Adnani’s company, in the House of Commons in May 2022 when he was still prime minister. Mr Adnani posted on social media that Mr Johnson and Mr Melbye spoke about “nuclear power and uranium”. The meeting was not recorded in the prime minister’s official diary.
Some clue as to the nature of the discussion might be provided by the fact that days before leaving office, Mr Johnson signed off an extra £700m investment in the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, saying the UK needed to “Go Nuclear, go large!”.
Critics, such as Caroline Lucas, the then Green MP and former party leader, were quick to pounce, denouncing the Sizewell C expansion as “massively costly, achingly slow and carries huge unnecessary risks”.
Uranium is the base of the enriched uranium required to fuel nuclear reactors. Sizewell’s growth would be welcome to uranium suppliers.
Sure enough, Mr Adnani from Uranium Energy Corp, hailed the announcement. He seems to have had advance notice of it, posting on Twitter before it was made: “Boris Johnson plans to sign off on new £30bn nuclear plant in his final week in power! #uranium.”
Mr Adnani is close to Mr Bannon, and has appeared twice on his War Room podcast. He told Mr Trump’s ex-confidante his aim was to obtain “full spectrum energy dominance”.
Better Earth's team
So, what is Better Earth? Its office is in a serviced building in Sevenoaks in Kent, and it portrays itself as an “energy transition company”. The firm’s work-in-progress website says it will “work directly with national governments and regions that are seeking both inward and/or to reduce their emissions ahead of 2030”.
Better Earth counts two other Conservative lights on its senior team: Chris Skidmore, the minister who resigned over Rishi Sunak’s oil and gas plan; and Nigel Adams, a close ally of Mr Johnson and a former minister without portfolio. Mr Adams is registered as the company’s CEO.
According to Companies House, Better Earth has a single share, which is owned by Emissions Reduction Corp in Carson City, Nevada. That entity was previously called Carbon Royalty Corporation, registered in Delaware – home to many US companies that wish to remain opaque – and counted Mr Adnani and Nicole Shanahan as directors.
Ms Shanahan was Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate in the current presidential race until he dropped out and endorsed Mr Trump.
Political embers
Other former PMs might think twice before heading down such a path. Not Mr Johnson. It’s not as if he needs the money: since leaving office, he has been earning a small fortune on the speakers’ circuit, mainly in the US and Asia, where he is feted.
He has joined the TV channel GB News as a commentator and programme maker, covering the US presidential election and next UK general election. That, together with his column for the Mail, nets him a sizeable sum from media work.
Then there is his memoir, Unleashed, which is due to be published next month. It has earned him a reported £500,000 advance and is bound to be a bestseller that will earn him £4m according to some estimates. He can already claim to be the bestselling prime minister-turned-author of the century, with his 10 previous books having sold 600,000 copies.
His 11th book was due to be a much-delayed account of William Shakespeare’s life, for which he received an advance of £80,000 in 2015. No publication date has appeared for the Shakespeare volume, which will be superseded by Unleashed.
Mr Johnson lived briefly in Camberwell, South London, in a town house he bought in July 2019 with his then-girlfriend and now wife, Carrie Symonds. Today, home for Mr and Mrs Johnson and their three young children is Brightwell Manor, a £3.8m moated mansion in the Oxfordshire countryside.
He is said to be enjoying, for just about the first time in his life, having serious money without the constraints of public office. That may be the reason for Better Earth and his association with Mr Adnani: that he would like more.
The irony is that while speculation persists about his life and business activities, Mr Johnson is missed by his fellow Tories. The terrible election defeat, followed by a lacklustre leadership contest, have only served to reinforce his popularity among some Tory activists. As with many Republicans and Mr Trump, they disregard his peccadilloes, preferring to focus on his ability to galvanise and lead the party to election victory.
While his critics fume and investigate, Mr Johnson continues on his own sweet way. That too has a familiar ring.
RESULTS
6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Lady Snazz, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Rich And Famous, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Rio Angie, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB) Dh 92,500 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Kinver Edge, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB) Dh 95,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
CREW
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amit%20Joshi%20and%20Aradhana%20Sah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECast%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shahid%20Kapoor%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%2C%20Dharmendra%2C%20Dimple%20Kapadia%2C%20Rakesh%20Bedi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
Company%C2%A0profile
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The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
More coverage from the Future Forum
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Profile of VoucherSkout
Date of launch: November 2016
Founder: David Tobias
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers
Sector: Technology
Size: 18 employees
Stage: Embarking on a Series A round to raise $5 million in the first quarter of 2019 with a 20 per cent stake
Investors: Seed round was self-funded with “millions of dollars”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
