Dubai, UAE – Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the longtime chairman and CEO of global logistics giant DP World, has stepped down effective immediately following intense scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The resignation comes as DP World holds the prestigious title sponsorship of the European PGA Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, raising questions about potential ripple effects in the world of professional golf.
Bin Sulayem, an Emirati billionaire credited with transforming DP World from a regional ports operator into a worldwide logistics powerhouse, announced his departure on Friday.
The company, owned by the government of Dubai, swiftly named His Excellency Essa Kazim as the new chairman and Yuvraj Narayan as group CEO in a bid to stabilize leadership amid the controversy.
The move follows the recent release of names in the Jeffrey Epstein files by the U.S. Justice Department, which revealed extensive communications between bin Sulayem and Epstein spanning over a decade.
Bin Sulayem’s name appears more than 4,700 times in the documents, highlighting a close personal friendship that included business discussions and exchanges of sexually explicit content.
In one particularly disturbing 2009 email, Epstein wrote to bin Sulayem: “Where are you? are you ok, I loved the torture video.” The reference to the “torture video” remains unclear, but it has drawn sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who helped push for the files’ full disclosure.
Correspondence also included bin Sulayem referencing arrangements for masseuses and visits to Epstein’s properties, underscoring the intimate and troubling nature of their relationship.
While bin Sulayem has not been charged with any crimes related to Epstein and maintains no wrongdoing, the revelations have prompted international backlash, including pauses in new ventures with DP World by financial groups in Canada and the UK.
Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, cultivated relationships with powerful figures across industries, and the files continue to expose the breadth of his network.
For the golf community, the timing is notable. DP World has been a key partner of the European Tour Group since 2009, evolving into the full title sponsor in 2022 and recently extending the agreement through 2035 in what was described as the largest deal in the tour’s history.
The sponsorship includes the flagship DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, a Rolex Series event that crowns the Race to Dubai champion each season. Bin Sulayem was instrumental in forging this partnership, often appearing at events to promote the synergy between global trade and golf’s international appeal.
The scandal has exposed a glaring irony in golf’s media landscape. For years, prominent PGA Tour-aligned voices like Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee and Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch have relentlessly hammered the Saudi-backed LIV Golf for its ties to the Public Investment Fund, branding it “sportswashing” by a regime guilty of human rights abuses, including the gruesome 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, often invoked through the infamous #bonesaw hashtag referencing his dismemberment.
Chamblee has called LIV funded by a “murderous regime,” accused players of selling their souls to help a “dictatorial murderer launder his reputation,” and decried the league’s association with beheadings, bags of bodies, and other atrocities.
Lynch has been even more scathing, labeling LIV backers as enablers of “bonesaw enthusiasts,” dismissing defectors as “shameless pawns for murderers,” and framing Saudi involvement as a blueprint for overlooking cruelties for cash, while repeatedly spotlighting Khashoggi’s fate and the kingdom’s repression.
Yet here stands the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour’s official European partner, whose title sponsor’s chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, is now engulfed in Epstein files revealing a decade-long friendship laced with explicit exchanges, including Epstein’s chilling 2009 email: “I loved the torture video,” met with bin Sulayem’s apparent gratitude and references to arranging women.
The very accusations of torture, exploitation, and moral compromise that these commentators weaponized against LIV and the Saudis now circle back to haunt a core PGA Tour ally in the UAE.
This reversal lays bare a glaring double standard: relentless moral outrage over Saudi funding contrasted with relative silence — until the Epstein unredactions — on ethical red flags tied to DP World’s leadership and its massive, record-breaking sponsorship deal.
As critics have long argued, the golf media’s fixation on LIV often veered into selective indignation, ignoring or downplaying similar issues elsewhere in the sport’s global partnerships. Bin Sulayem’s resignation may force a reckoning, but the hypocrisy exposed could linger far longer than any leadership transition.
