'If you’re creative, money will come': The Dubai tycoon on how to make millions, quit the rat race and live debt free while partying in Emirates Hills

Dubai: “We’re all a collection of neurons, electrons, protons — and morons,” says Mahesh Tourani with a sly grin, as he lounges inside his jaw-dropping Dh200 million Emirates Hills mansion.

This Dubai-based business tycoon doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t need to — not when he’s built empires across trading, finance, real estate, and technology, and yet declares, “I’m not a hustler, not a survivor. I’m a thriver.”

Call him outlandish, call him outrageous — he’s heard it all. Especially when he became the first few Indians to build a Dh10 million mansion in Jumeirah, back when others were stopping at a million.

“Everyone said I had lost it,” he recalls. “But my thought was simple — I want to live a good life every day till I die. If I can't buy a great house, I’m going to build one.”

That laser-sharp clarity has guided Mahesh since his early days, when a sudden family crisis, his dad's poor health, forced him to abandon his Harvard dreams and join the family’s textile business. His mother insisted that he take on his dad's trading.

“My dad had a few trees. I made it an orchard,” he says, matter-of-factly.

He took a modest trading enterprise and turned it into a profit-making machine by switching to smaller volumes and bigger margins.

“Why make 5% when you can make 100%?” he asks.

By 1985, he was fresh out of Sydenham College in Mumbai, making bold bets in global currencies.

“America had the greatest deficit, Japan had the greatest surplus — yet the yen was falling. It made no sense,” he says.

“So I sold dollars and bought yen. I made $3–4 million in six months. I just used common sense — which, by the way, isn’t very common.”

The man’s money mind is sharp, but he swears it’s in his DNA.

“I believe the Sindhis [trading Indian community] definitely have it. It may come from your father or your mother — sometimes it skips. I’ve seen daughters who are sharpshooters, and sons who are… well, useless.”

What sets him apart is that he doesn’t just chase money — he creates meaning.

“If you’re creative, money will come. They have no choice but to come to you.” Whether it’s pioneering hedge funds, private equity, or Brady Bonds in the region, Tourani has always been ahead of the curve.

But he’s also brutally honest about failure.

“I started an African trading business and misjudged my partners’ capacity. My fault. But every failure teaches you something. Don’t be mean. Admit when you’re wrong. Vanity makes you push losses further.”

Today, he’s betting big on a U.S.-based tech company in platform engineering.

“It started off as my last private equity play, but now I own 50%,” he reveals. “We’ve landed contracts with… well, let’s just say, imagine your top three dream clients globally. We either have them or we’re getting them.”

But here’s the kicker: for someone who can afford everything, he’s deliberately detached from wealth.

“I can buy a yacht. I can buy a plane. But I hate yachts. I hate travelling,” he says with a laugh.

“I already have beautiful homes in Dubai, London, and India. I have the best staff. Zero debt. Why would I want more?”

He’s not interested in comparisons either.

“If you want to work from 7am to midnight and chase numbers, it’s all yours. Please. But I’ve realised — beyond a certain level of money, it doesn’t change your life. Extra money is just noise.”

So what if people befriend him because of his mansion?

“That’s their problem, not mine. If you're pretending it's about me and not my money — you're kidding yourself.”

But behind the flamboyance is a grounded man who values authenticity.

“I talk to the Prime Minister, the servant, Shahrukh Khan — all the same way.”

And that’s the charm of Mahesh Tourani — a man who can play in billions, but chooses joy. “Be rich, sure. But lead a richer life.”

At the end of the day, his legacy is clear: not the square footage of his mansions, or the digits in his bank account — but the freedom he’s carved out for himself. He is divorced and his adult son lives in another neighbourhood.

“I have no regrets. Even if today was my last day, I’d be happy.”

Youth, he says with a wink, is “wasted on the young.”

But Mahesh Tourani? He’s making sure every day is maxed out — and money, well, that’s just the side hustle.