Plot of sand on Jumeriah Bay Island sold for 125 dirhams

Umar Kamani, the former boss and founder of fashion website Pretty Little Thing, has pocketed nearly £20 million after selling a plot of land in Dubai to an undisclosed buyer for a record price.

Kamani, who stepped down as CEO of the company earlier this month, sold a 24,500 square foot stretch of sand on Jumeirah Bay Island for 125 million dirhams (£27.3 million).

The sale sets a new record for the most expensive vacant land deal ever recorded on the island and will see the businessman make a hefty profit as he reportedly bought the plot two years ago for 36.5 million dirhams (£8 million).

Kamani, 35, founded Pretty Little Thing in 2012 with his brother Adam.

In 2020 he sold his remaining 34 per cent stake in the fashion company to Boohoo, which is run by his father Mahmud, for around £330 million.

The sale in Dubai has allowed Kamani to make a 242 percent profit in two years just by sitting on a vacant lot, without having to build on it.

And the businessman could further increase his fortune, as he owns another identical plot in addition to the one he just sold, which he plans to offer for 135 million dirhams, according to Bloomberg.

Jumeirah Bay Island is an artificial island off the coast of Dubai where real estate prices are skyrocketing thanks to the interest of very wealthy investors, many of them Russian.

Described as the ‘new favorite address for Dubai’s most discerning homeowners’ by Meraas Holding, the government-backed developer, it is home to the Bulgari Hotel and Bulgari Yacht Club.

“It’s 125 million for sand,” Andrew Cummings, head of prime housing at Knight Frank in Dubai who brokered the deal, told Bloomberg.

“Everything that made it to the press was mostly spectacular villas, incredible penthouses and all that stuff.

“But this is just a huge record breaker for a piece of land.”