Why Stay In America If They Take Half Your Money?

Summary

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Earn Your Leisure Podcast: "Why Stay In America If They Take Half Your Money?"

iHeartPodcasts | June 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this international episode of Earn Your Leisure, hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings broadcast from Dubai, UAE, diving deep into themes of entrepreneurship, taxation, and the global pursuit of wealth and opportunity. Their guest is Ahmed bin Sheba, Dubai native and founder of Aquafun—the world's largest water park operator—who shares his personal journey from bankruptcy to international business success. The discussion contrasts life, business, and government policy in the UAE and America, raising the provocative question: why stay in the U.S. if high taxes erode your earnings when other countries may offer more advantageous conditions?

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dubai's Rapid Transformation & the Emirati Model

Timestamps: 04:53 – 06:23

• Ahmed bin Sheba, a Dubai native, describes witnessing unprecedented change and development in his lifetime: "I've seen from the start." (05:00)
• Dubai operates as a business, prioritizing "speed, service level, and safety."
  • Infrastructure projects are completed in record time: “Now you’re here in Dubai right now in November, now come in three months, you’ll find new bridges. That was done.” (05:44)
• Leadership: Ahmed lauds Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, as “the best CEO,” attributing the city’s growth to swift, pragmatic governance.
• The expat population (90% of Dubai): Beneficiaries of good pay and opportunities; "We just learn from the best." (05:23)

2. Contrasts with American Systems: Taxation & Quality of Life

Timestamps: 06:23 – 07:20, 21:20 – 23:20

• US Taxes: Rashad says, "Probably 50%," referring to total effective tax rate as a New Yorker (06:31).
• Ahmed’s challenge: "You're working six months of the year for free. For what? No safety, no amazing education, no proper health care, and no lifestyle." (06:34)
• Dubai’s alternative:
  • No personal income tax or property tax.
  • 5% VAT on goods; 9% corporate tax only on profits.
  • Affordable, high-quality healthcare: "Three people will cost me around $700 for the whole year... I can walk to any place right now, get an MRI test... all for free. Private hospitals." (22:19–22:28)

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3. Entrepreneurial Journey: Persistence, Adversity, and Innovation

Timestamps: 07:45 – 13:50

• Ahmed’s origin story: The idea for Aquafun emerged while recovering from a 41-day bedridden injury, consuming YouTube and observing unmet needs on local beaches. (07:47)
• Major setbacks:
  • Faced bankruptcy twice, was sued 24 times, 617 rejections in his first year:
    • "I was basically every single day getting two people telling me no... Now I'm the biggest operator in the world." (09:31)
  • Self-funded everything: "I've never sterilized a single dollar. All by me. I made the money myself, I lost my money myself." (10:30)
• Sales & Marketing: Direct outreach to influencers, personally shooting and editing content, and hands-on social media engagement to build the brand’s first 100,000 followers. (10:45–11:22)
• Learning: No engineering or business background, just trial, error, and relentless self-education through “YouTube, Google... There's no excuse. There's a tutorial for everything in the world. You're just lazy.” (12:53)
• Key takeaway on mistakes: “I am the king of comebacks. I love doing mistakes... nothing beats failure.... That L could be a loss or could be a lesson. It's a lesson for me.” (13:53)

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4. Business Scaling and Team Building

Timestamps: 11:26 – 12:35, 29:48 – 31:38

• Today: 780 employees globally, 34 water parks, 9 businesses, 91 investments. (11:24, 29:49)
• Scalable model: Focused on perfecting operations at one site before expanding, with a shift from founder-centric to systems-driven management.
• Delegation: Overcame “founder syndrome”—"Letting away my ego out of the way... I’m going to give this person the authority and the power." (11:47)
• Ahmed manages business through brief, focused communication and centralized operations: "Most of my zoom calls are under 20 minutes... I try to keep things all in the same geographic space." (30:07)

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5. Governance: Efficiency vs. Democracy

Timestamps: 17:10 – 19:01

• UAE’s government agencies run like enterprises with annual competitions for customer satisfaction. Underperformers get warning and are replaced: "If you don't fix your stuff... you get fired." (17:28)
• Emirates offer investor visas (Golden Visa), embassies, and services for investors that rival—if not exceed—their home countries in support.
• Ahmed compares Dubai’s system to Miami, “but cleaner and with no drugs and just better service... safer.” (18:28)

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6. Social Media, Branding, and Customer Experience

Timestamps: 19:01 – 21:20, 31:38 – 33:14

• Social influence: Early use of Instagram—real experiences over staged content, targeting families to drive growth (19:32–20:07).
• Innovative staff incentives: Tipped employees switched to bonuses for positive Google reviews mentioning their names, increasing both service quality and online reputation: "First month, we'd grown, I think, 300 reviews, legit. My customers had great service, my staff got tips..." (20:52)
• Intentional personal branding: “You need to be very purposeful and very intentional with every single thing you do... Look good. Smell good. And you know what you're talking about." (32:07–32:35)

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7. Cost of Living & Real Estate Dynamics in Dubai

Timestamps: 26:30 – 28:32

• Real estate boom: “It’s not slowing down... 25% yearly. It’s insane.” (26:33)
• Wide range of affordability: “I can go right now and have dinner for four of us and we can spend less than $50 or... at least $500. So both levels are there. There is affordable housing here.” (28:25)
• Layered economy: Dubai as “an onion… the layers don’t touch either.” No oil revenue; all income is from tourism, trade, services. (25:04, 28:32)

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8. Cultural Distinctions & Symbols of Wealth

Timestamps: 33:14 – 34:23

• License plates as status symbols: Low-digit plates, e.g., “A5,” can sell for up to $15 million, becoming alternative assets and markers of prestige. (34:08)
• Advice to newcomers: “Let’s move first and we’ll talk about... let’s baby steps.” (34:23)

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Notable Quotes

• On the value of moving abroad:
  “Why be somewhere you are tolerated when you can be celebrated?”
  – Ahmed bin Sheba, (06:41)

• On relentless persistence:
  “The genius thing, that is one thing, I just don’t quit. I just never quit. No matter how crazy it was.”
  – Ahmed bin Sheba, (09:51)

• On management and delegation:
  “Letting away my ego out of the way... I’m going to give this person the authority and the power to do this and give them part of this... They might do 60% job. But then I could be somewhere else.”
  – Ahmed bin Sheba, (11:47)

• On learning and excuses:
  “You have YouTube, you have Google. There’s no excuse. There’s a tutorial for everything in the world. You’re just lazy.”
  – Ahmed bin Sheba, (12:53)

• On intentional branding:
  “You need to be very purposeful and very intentional with every single thing you do... look good, smell good, and you know what you're talking about.”
  – Ahmed bin Sheba, (32:07)

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Segment Timestamps for Key Topics

| Topic | Timestamp Start | Timestamp End | |------------------------------------------|----------------|----------------| | Dubai’s development & governance | 04:53 | 06:23 | | Taxation—UAE vs US | 06:23 | 07:20 | | Entrepreneurial struggles & persistence | 07:45 | 13:53 | | Business model & scaling | 11:26 | 12:35 | | Team structure & operations | 29:48 | 31:38 | | Governance efficiency vs democracy | 17:10 | 19:01 | | Social media & branding strategy | 19:01 | 21:20, 31:38 | 33:14 | 34:23 | | Dubai cost of living & real estate | 26:30 | 28:32 | | License plate status symbol | 33:14 | 34:23 |

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Memorable Moments

• “There was never a shelf empty [during COVID-19]. Logistics were good here. When they needed to build these hospitals... it was done in 48 hours.”
  (Ahmed bin Sheba on Dubai’s crisis response, 25:39–26:08)

• “I don’t have days off. I don’t understand days off. Now I do 80 to 100 hours a week.”
  (Ahmed bin Sheba on entrepreneur life, 31:27)

• The viral license plate discussion:
  “A one-digit plate number… went out for $15 million. So that’s the whole thing, you know, becomes an asset. It’s a new category of assets.”
  (Ahmed bin Sheba, 34:08)

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Consider your environment: Not all countries offer the same return on effort and risk; places like Dubai may align more closely with the entrepreneurial hustle.
• Success requires relentless persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to learn and delegate.
• Branding—both personal and corporate—drives growth, trust, and opportunity in today’s economy.
• Progressive governance and well-managed public services can outpace traditional Western models, especially for business-minded individuals.
• Wealth and lifestyle in Dubai go far beyond stereotypes—showcasing a pragmatic blend of ambition, inclusivity, and global aspiration.

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For more episodes, stories, and insights at the intersection of business, culture, and finance, stay tuned to Earn Your Leisure.

Transcript

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

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[Co-host/Interviewer]

When I did the podcast with you

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

all, I was telling you probably the most impactful interview I've done in my career. Heroes now. Real heroes.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

I heard Rashad Detroit talk about the

tax letter about finance. But we talk in a language that is common to the people.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

That's from the community that we grew up in.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You all are the bright spot of real estate.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Thank you.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And entrepreneurship for black Americans.

This is the knowledge that actually matters. I applaud both of you for this.

Thank you.

Literacy isn't a country issue. It's not an American issue. It's a world issue.

He came to earn our leisure. All right, guys. Welcome back. Eyl. We are international episode. We are in Dubai, uae. Our good brother, Daniel King. Shout out to him, man.

Yes. M2M.

Yes. We did his conference from Toronto. You know, that's one of our major hubs. We get a lot of support in Toronto. And he actually moved out here and has been making his. His way, meeting great people. And there was one, you know, we came out here for vacation and wedding and not necessarily to work, but.

No, we always working.

When work calls, we always working. We're always up. But when Daniel asks us to do anything, we have to say, yes. Part of our obligation.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Six side team.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said that we have to. You know, we've interviewed a variety of very important people in the world. You know, head of states, vice presidents.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Some of the richest people of all time. But he said we have to interview one of his friends in Dubai who owns the largest water park. The largest water park in the world. Is that correct?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

For now.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

For now. For now.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Because I make it bigger.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Of course.

Okay. Ahmed bin Shebe.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Sheba.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Sheba.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah. No. Okay, let's do this.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Let's do it.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Okay. Call on your hand. Yeah. Open it. Do it.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Drink it.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

I tried. I tried.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Of course. Sorry for being.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It's all good. It's all good. So, all right, so walk us through, like, the beginnings. All right. As far as how do you get to own a water park? You're Emirati, you're from.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yes, uae. I'm from Dubai.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You're from Dubai. All right, well, how old are you?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

44.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, so the first question, even before we get to the water park thing, right, let's. Let's talk about UAE for people that. Our audience is mainly based in America. A lot of people. A lot of people have not been to the UAE. It's an interesting country. I think it's like 10% of the people that's actually in the country are from the country, right? 90. 90% come from outside the country. Yes, correct.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yes, exactly.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So, but you've seen transformation happen in your life in real time, right? You're old enough. You're old enough.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

I've seen from the start. Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So when you. When. How. How quickly has this turned the corner and, like, for you to actually be experiencing. Be experiencing it as a native, like, what is it like for you to actually see the country change right in front of your eyes?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

It becomes so Hard to understand anything else but the speed and the service level and the safety we have. The fact I walk around Macasa unlocked, wearing jewelry and watches and networking, that level of safety is a huge thing. It's interesting because people think because we bring a lot of expats in the town, that we're just using them. No, they get paid very well. We just learn from the best. The city of Dubai is run as a business and the president, Sheikh Mohammed, is the best CEO. So he dedicated the job for a lot of very, very powerful and smart people. And the best about again, speed. Like, if this will work for people, let's change the rule and make it happen. So that's the whole thing. And the time to have an idea and decide and make it happen is pretty quick. Now you're here in Dubai right now in November. Now come in three months, you'll find new bridges. That was done. So the speed of things are done here is much faster. We don't have like this dictatorship in a way works. And again, you're American. How much tax do you pay?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Any city in New York, state tax? We got federal tax, some of state tax.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah. How much in total do you pay tax?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Probably 50%.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Isn't that stupid?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yeah, of course.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Okay, you're paying half your money. So you're working six months of the year for free. For what? No safety, no amazing education, no proper health care and no lifestyle. Why are you doing that? You're not a tree. You can move when daddy moved, because that's the talk I gave him. Why are you staying there? Why be somewhere you are tolerated when you can be celebrated? Why are you wasting so much energy worrying about all this nonsense that you cannot worry about anymore? Race issues and taxes and safety and so on. You can just have all the energy back in you and then you can just perform because the level of hustle you have, it's phenomenal. Imagine that hustle, but with no restrictions. Imagine the level of growth you're going to have in a much shorter span of time.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

These are valid points, man. Success loves speed. And what you're saying makes. I mean, it's 100% correct, right? When you have clarity, it opens up vision to create and be more creative. We've seen that in our careers on a personal level and obviously on a business level. I'm wondering when you started this wasn't. Was it the vision, like, I'm going to build park water parks, inflatable parks, like, what was the original vision and how did it get to this point?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

It's a very funny question because, like, where we started and where we are right now is so opposite. Like, because I had the slip disc, I couldn't move, I couldn't walk. And I was just in bed for 41 days and all I could do is consume YouTube that time. That's almost 14 years ago. And the idea of Aquafun, I saw Convilio. That's awesome. And then I was on the beach and I heard people next to me like, I wish there's something for my kids to do. And then I was. Next day I was in the yacht. I don't drink, I don't smoke. I don't like that thing. So I'm just sitting there being me. Dyslexic. Very visual. So I was imagining, what if we have a slide from top to bottom? And then those three ideas came together and then, okay, let me create this Aquafun. I started going and researching the world and there was two companies who does this kind of thing in the world. I spoke to both of them and both of them gave me so much shit because I was. I was nobody, basically. I've done this before. It's like, no, you got to pay me this and this and this. And you are nobody. What the hell? Okay, cool. So I went to China. I spent a month there. I met 41 factories, I found their factories. I created my own brand. A co found. And the first thing that is, okay, I need to be bigger than you did that. And then I think after six months, I got bankruptcy. That was first bankruptcy. And for the next four and a half years, I was in dollars, almost $250,000 in debt. Just debt. Every money I'm making, paying staff, paying debts between suppliers, and so I'm paying nothing to myself. And then I think almost four and a half years in, that's when I go back to zero. And that's when I changed my team, changed my people to systems, and so on and so on. Okay, that's going now. And then I think. So the last 13 years, I was bankrupt twice, sued 24 times. My first year in business, 617 people told me, no, this idea is not going to work. I was basically every single day getting two people telling me no every single day. I opened the map of the uae. I went to every single beach owner in the whole country. Let's do this. No, no, no. And then eventually, now I'm the biggest operator in the world. So the genius thing, that is one thing, I just don't quit. I just never quit. No Matter how crazy it was.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yeah, there's a couple of genius things you did in there. You saw who the competition was.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You saw what they were using. You said, all right, let me go get what they're using and let me go destroy them.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah. I found a niche and dominated it. So basically.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So what's the turning point as far as. Okay, it's a very cost extensive business as far as what you're running. So you have to get capital. If you were bankrupt and you had no money.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, you.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You have to have at some point in time where you have to have a lot of money that comes in to actually get up and up and running. Right. So you raised money.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

I've never to sterilize any single dollar all by me. So I made the money myself, I lost my money myself. And then I focus on sales. Just keep doing sales. Changing things social media, changing the way I present my businesses on social media. Because I understood in the end, I am in the business of creating happy memories. So basically, the emotion I was sending. The emotion, the emotion was people having fun. So I made sure I am involved in that. So I was dming influencers getting into the water park and then I would shoot you with my GoPro and my drone and I would edit the pictures and videos myself and I would send them everything. So the first 100,000 followers, because of me, I was in the beach every single day. Follow me, follow me, follow me, follow me. So it was very, for me, very personal, very in hand exercise.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

How many employees do you have now?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

780.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

780 at the water park.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Around the world.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yeah, he said around what?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Around the world.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Around the world. How many water parks do you have?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

34.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Okay, so when you're, when you're working, right. What's the scalable model? If you've never taken any outside of investments, you just literally just, okay, do this water park, then the money, then rolling over there. They're rolling over to it and then just keep it going from there.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Basically, I was like, let's make one very good. And then because early on I went too big too fast. So I think we had two part one park, then two and then went to 17. And then when that time we lost so much quality control. Branding was bad, service was bad, Everything was just bad. Let's go back to the beginning. Let's do one make it right Systems usps. Every step of the business have to be written down and then hire the right people. Empowering. Because the issue is this whole founder syndrome. It's like, I'm the founder, I can do the best. Yes, you are, but you're never scared. So given letting away my ego out of the way is okay, I'm going to give this person the authority and the power to do this and give them part of this and then see what they do. They wouldn't do 100% job, but they might do 60% job. But then I could be somewhere else.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Now you, this is, it's pretty immaculate because you think water park, but on the surface, this is an engineering and this is a design build that you're doing. Did you have a background on that or did you build a team? You did this. So you designed. You have no idea.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

No idea. I learned how to design, how to anchor, how to clean, how to do even power supply connection distribution points. I learned diving, I learned social media. I learned everything myself. Because here's the thing, everyone have a smartphone. You have YouTube, you have Google. There's no excuse. There's a tutorial for everything in the world. You're just lazy. Learn. And now we have ChatGPT. It's even much better. The tools are there. A lot of people are just lazy, just content. They love the dream of saying, oh, I want to be this cool. Do the work. Do the work.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

So YouTube TV.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, YouTube and Google. That's it. Everything.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So that, that means obviously we're big on that. A lot of people watch us on that. What are the mistakes that you make though? Right? Because if you're learning on your own, I'm not sure if there's any mentors in the picture at this point. You're figuring things out. What are some of the mistakes that you're making early on?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Thousands of mistakes.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yeah, talk about those.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Oh, I am the king of comebacks. I love doing mistakes. It's the most fun thing ever because again, you can read about it, you can go in class for it, but nothing beats failure. Nothing beats failure because, like, I know what will work. Doesn't work for my second, because I've did every single mistake passed. You can, you can do costly, very costly, like millions of dollars of mistakes. But that's the whole thing. Like, you know the difference. Like, I just didn't stop. Otherwise if I stop, it becomes a loss. So that l could be a loss or could be a lesson. It's a lesson for me.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

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[Co-host/Interviewer]

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[Ahmed bin Sheba]

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[Co-host/Interviewer]

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[Ahmed bin Sheba]

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[Ahmed bin Sheba]

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[Co-host/Interviewer]

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[Ahmed bin Sheba]

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[Co-host/Interviewer]

back to the geopolitical aspect of it. Explain the difference to people that may not be familiar between the UAE and America. Because yet the system of governance is different obviously from, you know, you have a democracy where somebody votes for a president, when you have a kingdom, right? And a lot of people in the Western world have been trained to think that that is not an efficient way to govern. You can have a counter argument to that and say, you know how we look at democracy is not efficient. We just had a government shutdown. So talk about the differences as far as government and how it's beneficial for entrepreneurs.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Amazing question. Each section of the the city, like I said, roads, electricity and power supply. They are run as enterprises, businesses and every year they have A competition.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Privately owned.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

No, government owned.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Government owned.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

And each year they are basically competing about who gets the best customer happiness survey competition. And the people who lose, they get a month notice and they get fired if you don't fix your stuff. Gint, for example, I think last month there was a power shortage in where my house are. The government said hey, there might be a shortage. So they got a generator outside the house to connect the houses in case we have a shortage, for example. That's like one small thing. You heard about the golden visa, right? As an investor visa. Now they've built an embassy for golden visa holders. So if you have a golden visa in Dubai uae, if you have any problem anywhere in the world, let's see you passport. Gaston, you got an issue we can give you. They give you a document so you can travel back to Dubai. So you've been treated more better than your own country in a lot of senses. Again like the only way for you to explain Dubai is to come to Dubai because you think you're having a good life. You think so, but it's not. I look at Dubai as like Miami but cleaner and with no drugs and just better service. That's the description. Like Miami, same style, same car, same people. But like just cleaner and with no drugs and just better lifestyle and safer safety is important.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

I think one of the things you leverage and had vision in social media. Talk about having the vision early on because you're talking about 14 years ago. So it's really at the start of, of Instagram and kind of shaping the narrative of yes, Dubai tourism but more so Dubai family. Yes, right, because that's where your sweet spot is. Talk about watching that evolution over the course of your expansion for the business wise business.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Because we, because we almost the same age. So there's a lot of guys like us who come from nothing, you know, self made obviously all of us. So we didn't have the life that we have right now. So now when we have children right now you overcompensate and you over provide because you want them to have a hardship. So I realized that that made the kids also leading their shopping and spending powers and I was okay, so why am I talking to them when I can just talk to them and they will talk to the kids and the families and they get the father and mother who have very good spending power now to spend with me. And that was the whole thing. So I made sure all the videos are real people having real fun. I think we got 4.9 stars on Google with 4,000 plus reviews. That only happens because you're good the way you do. That's it. And what I did with that was something very simple I always had to do. Win, win, win. I saw my staff working with customers, my lifeguards, and I saw them trying to do extra job to get tips. Hey, how about this? Don't get tips, okay? Ask the customer to give a review for the water park and mention your name, Roy. Okay. And then every person who gets a review under the name, I'll give you an amount of dollars, like almost $10 almost. And by end of the month, first month, we've grown, I think 300 reviews, legit. My customers had great service, my staff got tips and they got more money. And my business looked better when, when, when. Such a simple thing. Because if I'm gonna buy a review, it's gonna cost you much more money. And it would look like a bot. Yeah. So it's real.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Became an incentive.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Talk about taxes, you mentioned that at the beginning, but really break that down. That's something that's been on social media a lot. As far as there's no taxes in Dubai, Is there no taxes? Is there taxes on the corporation? Like, explain the, the actual tax system.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

So there's no income tax, Personal, personal. No personal tax. There's no property tax, there's no further tax. We have 5% VAT via tax on goods. 5%. And there's a 9% corporate tax that's on your profits of your annual year. So you understand special, you made this much revenue. How much? That, how much of that is your profit. That gets 9%. That's it. Now if we, we compare apples and apples, the fees you pay for certain government entities, comparing to what you get somewhere else is cheaper. How much do you pay for insurance?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Health insurance, insurance, like $2,000. A month.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

A month. Good God. For one person.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Me and my son. Two people.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Two people. Okay, that's so in a year, that's how much? 24,000.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

24,000.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Okay. So for me, so three people, I remember three people will cost me around $700. For the whole year.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

For the whole year.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Whole year. But I will get private hospitals. I can walk to any place right now. Get an MRI test, get a blood test, get the X ray, get my medication, all for free. Private hospitals, I don't have to wait a month or two months for a dentist appointment and that nonsense, it doesn't exist here. It's walking a gate, same day. That's the one simple thing. Healthcare. So that, so so that. So that's not the whole thing. So like the money you might, you make stays with you.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So, okay, if you're not a. If you're not getting tax revenue and you're getting free subsidies, how's that work? Because like if you're the government, taxes usually pays for services. Yes, right. Suppose if the government.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yes, supposedly. Yeah, for sure.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Alleged. Allegedly.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Allegedly.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Thank you.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

That's what they say.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Yes.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Have you seen your roads and. See my roads?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

No. That's why I'm asking. So if there's no revenue. If there's no revenue coming in.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

From taxes.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And school. School is free.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

You sleep over. We have two types of school. They have private schools and government schools. Private schools, you pay for them. But if you compare them here in America, it's way cheaper here. Government schools is free, obviously, but it's a different kind of education. How do we make the money? Because there's fees, there's service fees.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Service fees on goods, products, services. Yeah, but again, it's a small country, so it's relatively.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Regardless. But still it is the money managed properly when they give, you know, hey, we're doing this new bridge. This bridge is already in three, four months, not two, three years. In Assami, when we build the metro in three years, Jeremy said, how are you doing? Three years, it's impossible. Nine years. It was done in three years. So that's the whole thing. It's. The money is managed properly. There's no bullshit. There's none of that nonsense you have.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

There is this. I mean, there's two sides to that coin. Right. Like we've watched when we talk about success, love and speed, that also leaves the door for error. Right. We've watched recently other countries that had large scale projects that are now saying that we're not going to be able to.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

I saw that.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

We'll leave those. We'll leave their names out. Right. Is it too ambitious and does it leave you susceptible to making mistakes that potentially could be harmful? Because this is a place that relies on tourism and people coming to invest and now live. Does that come into the thought process anytime when you're trying to expand?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Okay, so Dubai don't have oil. No oil, Right. No natural gas. Dubai income is from tourism, import and export and trading. Just to clear up, there's no oil in the city whatsoever. Oil comes from Abu Dhabi, the capital. But that money is coming. That's different city. So Dubai doesn't have that. Dubai is good in the tourism, the trading, import, export, the free zones, all the Stuff. They're very good stuff. And again, we have the infrastructures. Remember cover days? Yes. Okay, so you guys used to fight for tissues. Remember? Remember that time?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That was the time. Yes.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

We used to have offers on tissues. Offers buying it five free. Okay. Our supermarkets was not empty. There's nothing empty. There was never a shelf empty. Logistics were good here. When they needed to build these hospitals for what they call them quarantine and stuff, they built, I think one of the hospitals had 8,000 beds. Was done in 48 hours.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

With 48 hours, yes.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

It was built with beds, all the machines, nurses and everything. In 48 hours, took a big exhibition hall and switched to a hospital. So that's the whole thing. The management is different here. They have backup for backup for backup. That's difference.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You know

real estate.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Oh, yes.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Talk about real estate in Dubai.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Powerful stuff. Dubai, uae, regardless, is just. It's not gonna stop. It's just like, you know, whatever is holding you back, stop it. Because you need to be part of it very quickly. Because it's not slowing down. Just. Just go. Just going up. It has gone up. Everything's going up. What's the percentage of growth now? Every year, year on year? 30%, 40%. There you go. Yearly, 25% yearly. It's insane. Like, I remember there was a villa. Family member was renting it, I think four years ago for 100,000. Now it's 350.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

How is this system here as far as there's no mortgages, right?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

There's mortgages.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Mortgages, yeah. Like America.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, yeah, there's mortgages, but there's also payment terms because if you're buying directly, if you buy an off plan, that's good time because now you have no interest. You can just pay directly with the. With the developer. So they just pay payment terms until you receive the thing. Otherwise you can pay cash directly. With crypto, there's multiple ways. But that's the best thing about.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So we're from New York, right. So I don't know if you follow local geopolitical politics, but they got a. A new mayor has been elected.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yes, sir.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You know that. You know about that? Yeah, He's a socialist. The reason why he got elected is because the city has become so unaffordable, because the top 1% but is doing extremely well, but 90% of the population barely surviving. So do you. Do you worry that a city like Dubai can reach that level of uns? It's not sustainable. After a certain point when every. All the billionaires from all over the world come in, but people still need to work. Right. So the workers are at the bottom level and then you have people that's worth a hundred billion dollars at the top level. That gap is so wide.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

That it leads to like, you know, a not sustainable living situation.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Dubai is like an onion and there's so many layers and sometimes the layers don't touch either. So yes, we have, I think this year we had almost 90,000 millionaires moved ready to Dubai. And I think 20 or 17 billionaires moved to Dubai already. So that space is already packed. Good. Amazing now. But here, middle and low. Now I can go right now and have dinner for four of us and we can spend less than $50 or we can have dinner together and spend at least $500. So both levels are there. There is affordable housing here. Definitely more of that. But it's there, it exists. There is ecosystems that basically all exist together in that space. So there's levels and again it keeps it. Here's the thing about Dubai. Dubai will show what you are. Oh, I burned out in Dubai. Dubai doesn't burn you out. You, your true cause came out. If you're good, you're good. If you're bad, now we know how bad you are. So again, this city keeps you competitive, keeps you very strong.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

34 water parks.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

For now.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

For now, going to have, I mean already has the largest water park in the world. We'll have it again in the next one big owner. And we got to get bigger.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

91 businesses.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

No, now I have nine businesses.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Nine.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

91 investments.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Investments. I'm sorry, 90. 91 investments. Nine businesses. In my head I'm thinking, how are we running operations on a day to day? How involved are you in? Or do you have cfo cmos? Is the structure the same?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Different structures? Some. I'm very involved in daily things because again, most of my zoom calls are under 20 minutes. Most of my zoom calls with my teams.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Intentionally?

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yes. Why? It doesn't take that long to understand what you want. I know what I want. Explain to me points 1, 2, 3, 4. Give me point points. What's happening? What's going on? What solutions do you have? These problems and then I pick from them quickly. I wake up early in the morning, I go my gym, I do my workouts done. Then I go to my beach and just go see everything in the beginning, make sure everything's done the way I want. We do then let's go. First office, second office or zoom calls. I try to keep things all in the same geographic Space so I don't have to drive too much. That's what it was, a big tactic. But like, usually I do all the things in the same space. So my businesses, offices and my penthouse all in the same space so I don't have to move too much because again, time is a very big factor here. So my day is always structured like in to the T. So there's no. In a few 10 minutes, 15 minutes late in one meeting. I can't see meeting because I can't. Because you overlap somebody else. Today. Today I had like a seven hour shooting, so it was just hectic. It was supposed to be four hours became seven hours. It's okay. Everything else had to be canceled. It's very structured.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

It makes sense.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, but I don't have days off. I don't understand days off. Like, I still. Now I do 80 to 100 hours a week. I still.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So talk about your branding because you're obviously branding yourself, right? You Aquaman on your sleeve.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

You have a necklace like a rapper. You got a necklace on like, you

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

know, so it's all mine. It's not about

[Co-host/Interviewer]

slight difference. Slight difference.

So. So talking, you're obviously intentional about how you want the world to see you. The image that you're putting out there. I think you're doing a show with Netflix. So you're not like a behind the scenes guy. It doesn't seem like that. Right? Talk about, talk about that. Talk about your intentionality with your branding.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

You need to be very purposeful and very intentional with every single thing you do. Everything you say or do, anything. Because there's three levels of people can. When you meet people, they will see you, they will smell you, they will hear you. You need to look good, you need to smell good. And you know what you're talking about. That's a very important things. I understand the power of personal brand very, very well. Because again, there's. It gets. It creates rapport. People know, oh, I've seen your video somewhere. I relate to what you say about this topic or that topic. So it takes away that whole fluff of when you meet somebody, people know, oh, I've seen you. I like you. Especially if you're authentic. If you read and you say the right things, people relate to it. You know, when you read, when other people understand you and relate to you very fast. So that's very important. It brings a lot of brands together, collaborations very quickly. And again, like, you know, why not look good? Why not look? And it's like, you know, God, Blesses me with like, you know, I work so hard, I got the money. Let me enjoy it. Why not keep it in a grave with me? Enjoy it.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Now, one of the things I've been educated on since being here is this license plate situation.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Oh, yeah. It's humbling, isn't it?

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Can you explain to the. To the virgin ear, the person that hasn't heard about this. I saw there's digits now. We come from a place where your license plate is your license plate, and you might transfer that from car to

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

car because there's a cap there.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

There's a totally different meaning here.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, because you know, when you say out of money, there's a purpose behind it because. Okay, having a G class occurred. Having a Ferrari. Cool. Having a go Ferrari. Okay, cool. But then. Okay, how do you show more than. I'm wealthy now. Comes with this new. It's only this part of the world thing is like, you know, plate numbers. So if it's one digit or two digits is more expensive. So sometimes a one digit plate number, let's say a. A5, for example, that one went out for $15 million.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

15 million for one digit.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

You know, so that's the whole thing, you know, becomes an asset. It's a new category of assets to

[Co-host/Interviewer]

show who you are.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Yeah, exactly.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

So when I move to Dubai, I need to have at least.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Let's move first and we'll talk about. Let's baby steps.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

There we go.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Move first and we'll talk about another one.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

All right. No five digits.

Well, thank you for your time.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Thank you for having me, boys.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Thank you for your time, man. Appreciate it. Much success. Continue.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Me too.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Earnest, what's up? Look, let's face it, most guys just power through pain and strains, but the smart move is taking action early before it turns into something bigger. That's where a physical therapist comes in. They can assess what's really going on and create a plan tailored specifically for you.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

And.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

And physical therapy isn't just for recovering after an injury. It's about staying ahead of them, building strength, improving movement, and supporting longevity so you can live life on your own terms. To learn more and find a local physical therapist, visit choosept.com

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Paramount plus is now the home of all your BET favorites.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

What? Yes.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

With all new episodes of Tyler Perry's Divorce Sisters, it's always like a little drama. Plus a whole new world of movies

[Co-host/Interviewer]

like Gladiator 2, now Control and Empire. Original series like the Shy.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Just make sure we protect each other in live sports like ufc.

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[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Subscribe now.

[Commercial Narrator]

It's Scotty B. From Elvis Duran and the Morning show on Demand. And do me a favor. Think back to your first dog. I bet you're smiling right now because Daisy or Mugsy or Bear or Ms. Buttercup or whatever their name was, was a special dog that helped define your childhood. And they probably ate Pedigree. It's the food you fed the dogs you loved. Well, it was good then and it's better now. With over 40 years of trusted nutrition supporting six health essentials in every bowl, Pedigree dog food is still the go to for good dogs all these years later. Pedigree. Good then. Better now. This episode is brought to you by Bobcat. They started the compact equipment industry through grit, determination, and a whole lot of think we can't do that.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

Watch us.

[Commercial Narrator]

They set standards, broke records, empowered people to build bigger and higher, to dig deeper, to make the impossible possible. We've all been there with doubters telling us what we can't do. Who cares what they think? We don't need their permission or forgiveness. We just get things done. So go ahead and doubt me. Judge me, challenge me.

[Co-host/Interviewer]

Me.

[Commercial Narrator]

But when the time comes, watch me. Bobcat.

[Ahmed bin Sheba]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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