David Jackson, who had spearheaded Istithmar's aggressive overseas expansion strategy, including the purchase of luxury US retailer Barney's New York and a stake in Standard Chartered, has been replaced by Andy Watson, Dubai World said on Wednesday. "Jackson was perceived as a bull-market specialist who was good at forcing through positive decisions but who wasn't necessarily good at biting the bullet," said a Dubai-based analyst who didn't want to be identified.
"With Jackson's departure one of the last architects of the Dubai bull-market strategy left," the analyst said. Two Istithmar executives left the group in early September amid a management shake-up. Speculation mounted that Jackson would depart as well, but Istithmar said then he would continue to lead the company. "Today, Istithmar World is focused on the steady-state management of existing assets to maximise value rather than on private equity investment," said Aidan Birkett, chief restructuring officer at Dubai World, in an e-mailed statement.