Thomas Barrack (credit: Getty)
From the summer issue: During the Arab Spring of 2011, with the Middle East torn apart by demonstrations, armed rebellions and civil unrest, Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital said he saw opportunity in contrarian investments in Egypt, Bahrain and even Syria.
“The Middle East is printing money and it’s used to operating in chaos,” Barrack, who’s invested alongside both Qatari and Saudi partners, told the New York Times in 2011. “In fact, it tends to do better in times of chaos than it does is times of peace. Regime changes are just a fact of life.”
If chaos is what Barrack seeks out, he’s now got it on his own doorstep with the U.S.’s own controversial regime change. The real estate mogul counts President Donald Trump as a longtime friend and close confidant — Barrack gave a speech for Trump at the Republican National Convention and went on to organize the president’s inauguration festivities. The L.A. native turned down a role in the administration but retains a direct line to the White House at a time of in-house upheaval.