The Institution
Mubadala Investment Company is Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment vehicle, managing assets in excess of $300 billion across a diversified global portfolio. Unlike ADIA, which invests exclusively outside the UAE in liquid financial markets, Mubadala combines strategic domestic investments — building industries and capabilities within Abu Dhabi — with a substantial global portfolio of financial investments, private equity positions, and operating companies.
Mubadala was formed in 2017 through the merger of Mubadala Development Company (established 2002), the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), and their combined subsidiaries. The merged entity brought together Abu Dhabi’s domestic industrial development mandate with IPIC’s global energy and financial investment portfolio, creating a diversified sovereign investment platform with operational presence in over 50 countries.
The Managing Director and Group CEO is Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who also serves as Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority and Chairman of Manchester City Football Club’s parent company, City Football Group.
Portfolio Architecture
Mubadala’s portfolio operates across six investment platforms, each responsible for a sector or strategy cluster:
Aerospace, Renewables, and ICT
Strata Manufacturing — Abu Dhabi-based manufacturer of composite aerostructures. Strata produces components for Boeing, Airbus, and other major aerospace OEMs. The company represents Abu Dhabi’s entry into advanced manufacturing and the global aerospace supply chain.
Masdar — Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company and one of the world’s largest renewable energy investors. Masdar has a portfolio of operational and under-development renewable energy projects spanning wind, solar, and waste-to-energy across multiple continents. Following restructuring in 2022, Masdar is jointly owned by Mubadala, ADNOC, and TAQA, with Mubadala holding a controlling stake. Masdar’s target is 100 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.
Yahsat — Space technology company operating Al Yah satellite fleet providing broadband, government, and managed solutions across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
GlobalFoundries — One of the world’s largest semiconductor foundries. Mubadala is the majority shareholder (approximately 85%). GlobalFoundries operates fabrication facilities in the US, Germany, and Singapore, producing semiconductors for automotive, IoT, mobile, and data centre applications. Listed on NASDAQ.
Technology and Financial Investments
AMD — Mubadala holds a significant minority stake in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the semiconductor design company. This position originated from the 2008-2009 restructuring of AMD that created GlobalFoundries. As AMD’s share price has appreciated dramatically due to the AI computing boom, this stake has become one of the most valuable positions in Mubadala’s portfolio.
Cologix — North American data centre platform acquired by Mubadala as a direct infrastructure investment. Data centres represent a core theme in Mubadala’s technology infrastructure thesis.
Silver Lake, Fortress, Apollo — Mubadala maintains significant limited partner relationships with leading global alternative investment managers and has co-invested alongside them in numerous transactions.
Hub71 — Abu Dhabi’s technology startup ecosystem, launched and backed by Mubadala. Hub71 provides incentive packages, mentorship, and corporate access for startups establishing operations in Abu Dhabi.
Petroleum and Petrochemicals
Cepsa — Integrated Spanish energy company in which Mubadala held a majority stake (acquired through IPIC). Cepsa operates across exploration and production, refining, chemicals, and retail fuel. The company has undergone a strategic pivot toward biofuels, green hydrogen, and sustainable energy under Mubadala’s ownership.
NOVA Chemicals — Canadian polyethylene and polypropylene producer. Acquired through IPIC. NOVA operates petrochemical facilities in Alberta and Ontario.
Borealis — Mubadala holds a significant stake in Borealis, the European polyolefins and chemicals producer, through its OMV relationship.
Metals and Mining
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) — Joint venture between Mubadala and Investment Corporation of Dubai. EGA is the world’s largest premium aluminium producer and one of the largest overall, producing approximately 2.7 million tonnes annually. Operations in Abu Dhabi (Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah smelters) and Guinea (bauxite mining). EGA’s aluminium is sold to over 60 countries across six continents.
Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) — Bauxite mining operation in Guinea providing raw material security for EGA’s smelting operations.
Healthcare
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi — Multi-specialty hospital operated through a partnership between Mubadala and Cleveland Clinic. The facility represents Abu Dhabi’s most visible healthcare investment, providing tertiary and quaternary care that reduces medical tourism outflows and builds local healthcare capacity.
PureHealth — Abu Dhabi’s largest integrated healthcare platform, in which Mubadala is a stakeholder. PureHealth operates hospitals, clinics, diagnostics, and health insurance across the UAE.
Real Estate and Hospitality
Aljada (Sharjah) — Mixed-use development.
Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure — Global real estate investment portfolio spanning office, residential, and mixed-use assets in key markets.
Recent Deals and Strategy Evolution
Mubadala’s recent investment activity reveals a clear strategic direction: increased exposure to technology infrastructure (data centres, semiconductors), clean energy transition (Masdar expansion), and life sciences.
Key themes in recent deal activity:
Technology infrastructure: Significant investments in data centre platforms and digital infrastructure, reflecting the structural demand driven by cloud computing, AI, and data sovereignty requirements. The Cologix platform and additional data centre investments position Mubadala as a major institutional owner of digital infrastructure.
Semiconductor value chain: The combination of GlobalFoundries (fabrication) and the AMD stake (design) gives Mubadala exposure across the semiconductor value chain — a sector experiencing secular growth driven by AI, automotive electrification, and IoT.
Clean energy scale-up: Masdar’s ambitious target of 100 GW renewable capacity by 2030 requires continuous capital deployment. Mubadala’s financing of Masdar’s growth represents one of the largest sovereign commitments to clean energy globally.
Healthcare and life sciences: Expansion of the PureHealth platform and investment in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies reflect Abu Dhabi’s healthcare sector development objectives.
Co-investment and partnerships: Mubadala increasingly structures investments as co-investments or partnerships with other institutional investors, sharing risk while maintaining strategic influence. Partnerships with global private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, and corporate partners are a defining feature of the current strategy.
Financial Performance
Mubadala publishes annual financial results, making it the most transparent of Abu Dhabi’s three major sovereign wealth funds. Key metrics from recent disclosures:
AUM: Exceeded $300 billion as of the most recent reporting period, reflecting a combination of capital appreciation, new investments, and the integrated IPIC portfolio.
Revenue: Mubadala’s portfolio companies generate substantial operating revenue — EGA, GlobalFoundries, Cepsa, and Masdar are all revenue-generating operating companies, not passive financial holdings.
Returns: Mubadala has reported positive comprehensive returns over rolling 5-year and 10-year periods. The fund’s blended return reflects a mix of liquid financial market performance (driven by the AMD stake and public equity portfolio) and operating company profitability.
Strategic Significance
Mubadala occupies a unique position among global sovereign wealth funds. It is simultaneously a financial investor (like ADIA or Norway’s GPFG), a strategic industrial developer (like Saudi Arabia’s PIF), and an operating company owner (like Singapore’s Temasek). This hybrid mandate makes it one of the most complex and consequential sovereign investment vehicles in the world.
For Abu Dhabi’s Economic Vision 2030, Mubadala is the institution that builds capabilities the emirate does not yet have — aerospace manufacturing through Strata, renewable energy through Masdar, advanced healthcare through Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and technology ecosystems through Hub71. Where ADIA preserves wealth, Mubadala creates industries.
The key risk is complexity. Managing a portfolio that spans semiconductor fabrication in Dresden, aluminium smelting in Al Taweelah, renewable energy in Egypt, and data centres in North America requires extraordinary managerial depth. Mubadala’s long-term performance will depend on its ability to maintain investment discipline and operational excellence across an exceptionally diverse portfolio.
Investable Implications
Listed portfolio companies: GlobalFoundries (GFS on NASDAQ) and Yahsat (YAHSAT on ADX) are publicly traded Mubadala portfolio companies. AMD, while not majority-owned, has significant Mubadala shareholding. These provide public market access to Mubadala’s investment thesis.
Co-investment access: Institutional investors with Mubadala relationships can access co-investment opportunities alongside the fund in private markets transactions.
Abu Dhabi ecosystem: Mubadala’s portfolio companies — particularly Masdar, Hub71, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi — create commercial opportunities for private sector businesses operating in Abu Dhabi’s energy, technology, and healthcare sectors.
Supply chain opportunities: Strata’s aerospace manufacturing, EGA’s aluminium production, and Masdar’s renewable energy project development all generate procurement opportunities for specialised suppliers.