With the support of his family, Hamad staged
a bloodless coup d'état in 1995 when his father
Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani was on vacation in
Geneva, Switzerland, at which point he officially became the Emir of Qatar. The deposition came after a falling out between Hamad and his father, who had tried regaining some of the authority that he gave to Hamad starting in 1992. In a break with the traditional role, his second wife Sheikha
Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned has been a visible advocate for education and children's causes. A sportsman and an accomplished diver, Hamad has played an active role in promoting and developing athletics in
Qatar. In an analysis of Al Jazeera,
Hugh Miles said that diplomats from other countries know that the Emir was the real power behind Al Jazeera but he also quotes a network spokesman denying 'countless times' this accusation, adding that many independent news sources also have subsidies from their respective governments without this implying editorial dabbling and explaining that trying to coerce the kind of journalists Al Jazeera has would be like trying to 'herd cats'. Sheik Hamad is a distant cousin of the network chairman,
Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, who was previously Minister of Information in the Emir Al Thani government. Following the initial US$137 million grant from Emir Al Thani, Al Jazeera had aimed to become self-sufficient through advertising by 2001, but when this failed to occur, the Emir agreed to several consecutive loans according to
Arnaud de Borchgrave). At a 3 October 2001 press conference,
Colin Powell tried to persuade Sheik Hamad to shut down Al Jazeera while the New York-based organization
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting commented that in those efforts, "Powell and other U.S. officials were reportedly upset by the channel re-airing old interviews with bin Laden and the inclusion of guests that are too critical of the United States on its programs."
The Washington Post reported in 2005 that Sheik Hamad was under pressure to privatize the network. In 2010,
Qatar was awarded the right to host the
2022 FIFA World Cup. The country would become the first in the
Middle East to host the event, beating out Australia, Japan, South Korea and the US.
Autocracy Hamad ruled an autocratic regime in Qatar. National news outlets exercised self-censorship. By 2010
liquefied natural gas production had reached 77 million tons, making Qatar the richest country in the world. With fewer than two million inhabitants, the average income in the country shot to $86,440 per year per person. Qatar expert
Olivier Da Lage said: "When he came to power in 1995, Sheikh Hamad had a goal to place Qatar on the world map by exploiting the gas resources which his father did not develop for fear it would change the emirate's society. Eighteen years on, he has finished the job – Qatar has acquired the financial clout to command respect from neighboring countries and Western governments alike". The Qatar Investment Authority and its
subsidiaries have acquired many businesses abroad, including London's iconic department store
Harrods from entrepreneur
Mohamed Al-Fayed, Paris-based department store
Printemps, French
football club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., a former 10% stake in
Porsche, a 75% stake in
film studio Miramax Films which they acquired from
Disney, a 2% stake in
media conglomerate and
Universal Music Group parent company Vivendi, a US$100 million investment in Chernin Group – whose founder
Peter Chernin was COO of
News Corp and President of
Fox, a 1% stake in
luxury goods manufacturer
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, a 6% stake in
Credit Suisse, a 12.6% stake in
Barclays and several other major companies. They also backed
Glencore's $31 billion takeover bid for
Xstrata. Qatar is the largest property owner in London with their holdings including the United Kingdom's tallest building
The Shard, the
London Olympic Village and the
InterContinental London Park Lane hotel. They also own several hotels in
Cannes including the
Majestic Hotel,
Grand Hyatt Cannes Hôtel Martinez and the
Carlton Hotel, Cannes. QIA was considered to have one of the leading bids in the sales of both
Anschutz Entertainment Group and
Hulu. As of May 2013, it was reported the Investment Authority was in talks to purchase
Neiman Marcus and
Bergdorf Goodman., September 2010|left Media sources claimed that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani made a bid for
Manchester United on 11 February 2011. Qatari Holdings offered
£1.65 billion to
Malcolm Glazer, the American owner of the club. This follows a series of endeavors by the Emir and other Qataris into the global football community, following Qatar's successful bid for the
2022 World Cup, and the Qatar Foundation's recent £125m shirt deal with
FC Barcelona. In mid-June 2011, rumours resurfaced that
Qatari Holdings were preparing a £2 Billion takeover bid and that the funding, that the club had been using for transfers since the start of June, was actually supplied by the Qataris and not the
Glazer Family. In 2012 it was rumoured that Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was in bid for
Rangers F.C. On 30 March 2012 Sheik Al Thani offered to buy
KF Tirana, although the details have yet to be published.
Culture and education In the arts, Hamad established the
Qatar Museums Authority in 2005 which built the
I. M. Pei designed
Museum of Islamic Art Doha. Since its opening,
Qatar has become the world's biggest contemporary art buyer, famously purchasing
Cézanne's
The Card Players in 2012 for over US$250 million. The art acquisition efforts were often represented by Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al Thani, president of Qatar's National Council for Culture, Arts and the Heritage. in 2012 The Museum Authority sponsored
Takashi Murakami's
EGO exhibit in Doha which ran from 9 February to 24 June 2012,
Damien Hirst's
retrospective at
Tate Modern in Spring and Summer 2012 and Hirst's exhibition Relics, from October 2013 to January 2014. In July 2013, in conjunction with
Miuccia Prada and the
Prada Foundation, QMA launched CURATE, a global search for curatorial talent. Additionally, the
Doha Film Institute was established in 2009 which in partnership with the
Tribeca Film Festival (founded by
Robert De Niro), created the
Doha Tribeca Film Festival that ran from 2009 – 2012. The Doha Film Institute is producing
Salma Hayek's upcoming animated adaptation of
Khalil Gibran's classic novel
The Prophet, with
Lion King director
Roger Allers coordinating the process. DFI is also credited as a production company on several other films, including
Just Like a Woman starring
Sienna Miller,
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, directed by
Mira Nair, which opened the
69th Venice International Film Festival, and
Kanye West's
Cruel Summer – a short film which was shot in Doha and premiered during the
2012 Cannes Film Festival. In February 2013, they announced a $100 million feature film fund with
Participant Media, a production company founded by billionaire
Jeffrey Skoll, who was the first employee and also first president of internet auction firm
eBay. Under the patronage of Hamad and his wife
Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al-Missned, various academic institutions have opened campuses in Doha, including
Carnegie Mellon University,
Georgetown University,
Northwestern University,
Texas A&M University and
Weill Cornell Medical College. ==Retirement and later life==