LONDON: Tensions within the Kuwait Investment Authority have thrust the low-profile firm into the spotlight after it sacked the head of its London investment arm, the KIO, the Financial Times reports.
Last week, the KIA abruptly and without explanation sacked Saleh Al-Ateeqi following a four-year period that saw the KIO embroiled in a series of legal battles with former staff, internal investigations, and hostilities between the London office and its Kuwaiti leadership.
The FT reported that Al-Ateeqi’s management style had “stirred resentment” within the firm, with more than half the 100-strong fulltime team leaving since 2018.
Describing his leadership as “polarizing,” the newspaper cited supporters saying he had “shaken up a sleepy organization” that had not changed for decades, but others described a working environment plagued by bullying.
One employee said: “The culture has drastically changed. In six months of arriving, (Al-Ateeqi) started wielding the axe and it hasn’t been the same place since. The culture is awful.”
It is unlikely that tensions will recede in the near term, with Al-Ateeqi having filed a legal complaint in Kuwait against not only the head of the KIA but also the finance minister for not sacking a member of the KIO’s strategy team, Yanni Legbelos.
The complaint, filed on Tuesday, surrounds Al-Ateeqi’s accusations that Legbelos misrepresented his KIO role with outside parties, and engaged in conflicts of interest and disclosure of state secrets.
Denying the allegations, Legbelos said his former boss was fully aware of his background, with sources noting that the Greek employee had been at the center of tensions between the firm and Al-Ateeqi as the two clashed over culture and leadership within the London office.
In the UK, multiple legal disputes between the KIO and former employees continue, including over the firing of three senior executives for allegedly conspiring to award unapproved pay increases in the interim between his predecessor leaving and Al-Ateeqi taking over.
A High Court case is on hold until employment tribunal proceedings, brought by the former employees, have been concluded.