Billionaire sheikh carves his name in
desert so big it can be seen from SPACE
By HARRY HAYDON July 2011
A DESERT sheikh has carved out a big name for himself — by having his moniker etched in capital letters visible from space.
Workmen scoured “HAMAD” into the sand on the orders of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan.
The name is two miles across — with letters a kilometre high. It is so huge that the “H”, the first “A” and part of the “M” have been made into waterways.
The mega-rich sheikh, 63 — a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi — in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates — boasts a £14billion fortune that is second only to the Saudi king’s.
His fleet of more than 200 cars — including seven Mercedes 500 SELs painted in different colours of the rainbow — is housed in a custom-built pyramid.
His name is etched on to an island he owns called Al Futaisi.