On 4 January 2006, Dubai changed rulers. Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum had died, and his brother — HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince since 1995 — became Ruler of Dubai. The following month he also became Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. It was a day of mourning and continuity at once: the city lost one Al Maktoum and gained the leader who would define its modern era.
Accessions are usually moments of uncertainty. In Dubai’s case, the direction never wavered, because the new ruler had already been the driving force of the city’s development for a decade. What changed on 4 January 2006 was not the plan — it was the pace.
A Succession Prepared Over Decades
Sheikh Mohammed came to the throne with a preparation few heirs anywhere can match. Head of Dubai Police at nineteen in 1968. The UAE’s first Minister of Defence in the federation year of 1971. The champion of Emirates airline’s launch in 1985. Crown Prince from 1995, during which he launched Internet City, Media City, the DIFC, the Palm Jumeirah and The World islands.
The Al Maktoum family has ruled Dubai since 1833, and its successions have been marked by stability. But 2006 was distinctive: the incoming ruler was not learning the job — he had been doing its hardest parts for years, under two predecessors, his father Sheikh Rashid and his brother Sheikh Maktoum.
The Federal Crown Added
Weeks later, in February 2006, Sheikh Mohammed became Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE. The dual role fused Dubai’s development story with the federation’s government: the man rebuilding an emirate now also chaired the federal cabinet in Abu Dhabi.
That combination explains much of the two decades since. Federal initiatives — from ministers for happiness and tolerance in 2016 to the Hope Probe that reached Mars in 2021 — carry the same signature as Dubai’s projects: bold targets, named deadlines, and performance measured in public.
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The Philosophy, Published
The accession year also brought his book, “My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence”, published in 2006. It set out in his own words what Dubai could expect: government run with private-sector urgency, excellence treated as a race with, in his famous phrase, no finish line, and development measured by people’s quality of life.
His official profile line from the era still summarises the programme: “We are building a new reality for our people, a new future for our children, and a new model of development.” The years since 2006 — a metro, the world’s tallest tower, an Expo, a paperless government, a Mars mission — read like that sentence being carried out item by item.
What the Day Really Marked
It is tempting to date modern Dubai from the Burj Khalifa or the Palm. The more accurate date is 4 January 2006: the day the designer of the city’s future acquired the full authority to build it. Everything since — including the Dubai 2040 plan and the D33 economic agenda — flows from a ruler who took office with a complete philosophy, a proven method and no intention of slowing down.
Dubai has had many landmark days. Few matter more than the quiet, sad, consequential day its current ruler took the throne.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Sheikh Mohammed become Ruler of Dubai?
On 4 January 2006, following the death of his brother, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
What federal roles did he take in 2006?
In February 2006 he became Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, roles he holds alongside Ruler of Dubai.
What did he publish in his accession year?
His book “My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence” (2006), which sets out his philosophy of government and development.
Why was the 2006 succession so smooth?
He had been Crown Prince since 1995 and the driving force of Dubai’s development for a decade, with a record stretching back to the police command in 1968 and the defence ministry in 1971.
