Omar Amanat

Omar Sharif Amanat is an American entrepreneur, an investor in media, finance and technology companies, and the chairman of the Aman Resorts Group.^[5]

Career

Amanat worked at startup online trading firm Datek Online,^[6] which was acquired by Ameritrade for $1.3 billion in 2002. Afterward, he moved to Texas and partnered with Philip Berber on a prototype online trading system called Cyber-Block,^[7] which was acquired by Charles Schwab for $488 million in 2000, before moving to New York to start Tradescape,^[6] of which he was the chief executive.^[8] In 2002, E*Trade acquired Tradescape for $276 million.^[9]

Entertainment industry

Amanat is a shareholder of The Twilight Saga studio Summit Entertainment, via a 20% ownership stake in Peak Group Holdings.^[10] Brent Lang of The Wrap called him "the most powerful person in Hollywood you've never heard of".^[10] Summit was acquired by Hunger Games studio Lions Gate for $912.5 million and Peak became one of its largest shareholders.^[11]

He was the executive producer of the 2007 drama The Visitor and the 2008 comedy drama Smart People.^[12][13]

Aman Resorts

Amanat is the founder and Chairman of Peak Hotels & Resorts Limited and Aman Resorts Group Limited (ARGL) a joint venture between Amanat and Aman founder Adrian Zecha, which purchased luxury hotel and resort chain Aman Resorts from DLF for $360 million on February 10, 2014.^[14] In March 2016, the chapter 11 involuntary bankruptcy filing against Aman Resorts Group Ltd. was dismissed by a judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.^[15]

In July 2014 Amanat filed suit in the High Court of London against Vladislav Doronin, the owner of Aman Resorts, claiming Doronin committed breaches of a shareholders’ agreement and forced the unlawful ouster of Amanresorts founder Adrian Zecha as CEO of Amanresorts. Amanat claimed the decision to remove Zecha as CEO did not have board approval and brought a case to the High Court in London, which on 14 July reinstated Zecha as CEO. The judge's decision, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, was a victory for Omar Amanat.^[16] Two days later Doronin filed a counter-lawsuit in New York ^[17] where Doronin lost the case when the New York judge ruled that the lawsuit must be decided in England ^[18] In July 2014, London’s High Court permitted a board decision to stand which replaced Zecha with Olivier Jolivet as CEO.^[19] In March 2016 it was reported that "Vladislav Doronin has scored victories in London and New York in a long-running dispute" with Amanat.^[20]

Litigation

Amanat has been involved in a number of high profile lawsuits during his career:

• Shortly after the acquisition of Tradescape by E*Trade, litigation commenced between E*Trade and MarketXT each alleging fraud on the part of the other.^[21]
• Summit Entertainment threatened litigation against Amanat if he continued to "misrepresent that he’s involved in the ownership, management, decision-making, and operations".^[22] Relating to the same Amanat also threatened libel proceedings against British newspapers who called him an imposter in relation to his claims of involvement with Summit Entertainment, which led to them apologising, publishing a retraction and making payments to a charity of Amanat's choice.^[23]
• The disputes relating to the ownership and control of Aman Resorts have led to litigation in both New York^[24] and London.^[25]
• Amanat was also involved in lawsuits in connection with Bridges TV.^[26]

Bankruptcy

In 2004 a bankruptcy petition was lodged against Amanat.^[27] The circumstances of the filing were highly unusual. Fortune reported the following transcript of Judge Alan Gropper:^[27]

The bankruptcy petition was subsequently dismissed, as was a subsequent appeal against its dismissal by Amanat.^[28] Fortune also reported that "[b]efore the case was over, the bankruptcy judge, Gropper, found that Amanat executed fraudulent conveyances, deceived creditors, and backdated documents."^[27]

Arrest

In July 2016 Amanat was arrested as part of the criminal case against KIT Digital.^[29][30] Prosecutors asserted that Amanat with Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Stephen E. Maiden and an unnamed individual used an investment vehicle controlled by Tuzman to purchase KIT Digital shares.^[29] Maiden was sentenced in February 2015 to seven years in prison; ^[29] Tuzman is presently in prison in Colombia, and his extradition back to the U.S. to face charges is being sought.^[31][32] Former Chief Financial Officer Robin Smyth pleaded guilty to criminal charges in March 2016 and has been assisting prosecutors.^[30]

Philanthropy

Amanat has been a board member of Human Rights Watch, Malaria No More,^[33][34] and the Ad Council^[35] and worked as a spokesman for Bridges TV before its debut,^[36] where he advocated for Muslims to undo negative misperceptions of themselves in media.^[37] He co-founded a film fund affiliated with the United Nations called the Alliance of Civilizations Media Fund^[38] Amanat commissioned Harvard Medical School to research the physiological effects on minorities who watch images of violence being perpetrated on fellow minorities.^[39][40]

He has been an executive producer of films including The Visitor,^[41] Darfur Now,^[41] Smart People,^[41] and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.^[41]

Personal life

Amanat has three children with ex-wife Helena Houdová.^[42][4]

References