Driven | Forbes Global Properties, a leader in the UAE’s luxury real estate market, has appointed Emre Okay, a strategic financial expert with international experience, as its new Group Chief Financial Officer. The appointment comes at a pivotal stage in the transformational journey of Driven Properties into a vertically integrated real estate investment and development ecosystem.
Okay has proven expertise spanning large-cap private equity in Europe and investment banking at UBS in New York, following his MBA at Harvard Business School. He transitioned into senior operational roles at Amazon, where he held multiple finance leadership positions across the company’s European business in London before relocating to Dubai to support its Middle East payments business. His career has centered around investments, capital allocation, scaling finance and strategy functions of complex organizations through data and operating in high-performance environments.
Abdullah Alajaji, Founder and CEO of Driven Properties, said: “As we continue to grow and define our industry leadership position, we are strengthening the institutional capabilities that will define the next chapter of our growth. Emre’s experience across private equity, investment banking and global technology businesses lends a unique perspective that will strengthen how we make investment and capital allocation decisions, raise funding for our investment funds, scale our operations and prepare the business for new opportunities ahead. We look forward to his leadership, insight and discipline to build stronger and more integrated operations that will drive our long-term growth.”
As Driven Properties’ CFO, Okay will apply institutional-grade finance, operational analytics, and capital markets insight to a co-invested real estate investment portfolio, comprising approximately USD 1 billion in assets. His remit spans a platform that includes Lamar Holding, Driven Properties’ development business with more than USD 5.5 billion in active gross development value, alongside Driven Property & Asset Management, which manages more than 5,000 units across the UAE. The company also holds approximately USD 300 million in owned real estate assets and maintains a venture portfolio of over 15 minority investments.
“Driven Properties brought me in at a very specific stage in its journey,” Okay said. “The company has achieved meaningful scale across brokerage, investment management, and development. The next phase is about institutionalisation to build financial, operational, and technological infrastructure that allows growth to scale sustainably over the long term.”
In his words, the company’s rapidly integrated structure creates strategic advantages for its operations. “Most real estate companies operate in silos of brokerage, development, or investment. Driven Properties is working towards an integrated platform across all three verticals. This creates significant advantages in capital allocation, market intelligence, execution visibility, and speed of decision-making. International investors today expect governance, transparency, advanced reporting, and disciplined execution. The firms that combine entrepreneurial agility with institutional-grade infrastructure will ultimately attract long-duration capital.”
Driven Properties has established itself as one of the UAE’s leading luxury and ultra-luxury real estate brokerages, recognised for brokerage excellence and a network of more than 700 agents. The company holds leading market share positions across several of Dubai’s prime residential districts, including Downtown Dubai, Business Bay, Jumeirah, and Al Wasl, among others.
The company’s investment portfolio, now to be overseen by Okay, represents a core pillar of its business and reflects its growing institutional investment capabilities.
