Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, a 63-year old billionaire in the Abu Dhabi royal family wanted to declare his portion of the world to the rest of humanity. Stretching two and a half miles wide and nearly nine football fields (back to back) high, giant capital letters spell out “HAMAD” on an island in the Persian Gulf. The first two letters are filled with water flowing in from the gulf and a section of the “M” is starting to fill up with water. The name is visible from space and shows up on all satellite photos including the Google Earth photo seen above.
With this real-life watermark, all future aerial photos of Hamad’s property will bear this image and will remain in the final shot unless digital editing is used to remove the name. The canals for the name were dug for weeks by laborers, but there’s no indication of the cost of the project. The name of the island is Al Futaysi and is used by the Sheikh for recreation. It’s populated with resorts as well as gold courses. If all letters are filled with water, it’s likely that the canals could be used for a marina.
Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan is no stranger to exorbitant spending on ridiculous possessions. Hamad created a version of the Dodge Power Wagon that’s eight times larger than the original and contains a four-bedroom apartment on the interior. He also built a motor home in the shape of the Earth that’s exactly 1 millionth the size of the planet. He owns over 200 automobiles including seven Mercedes 500 SEL, one for every day of the week. The cars are stored in a giant pyramid and are rumored to be equipped with gun racks to hold M16 rifles.
