Ahmed Zayat (Ahmed El-Zayat) (/zəˈjɑːt/; Arabic: أحمد الزيات) (born August 31, 1962[citation needed]) is an Egyptian-American businessman and owner of Thoroughbred race horses. He is the CEO of Zayat Stables, LLC, a Thoroughbred horse racing business which bred and owns the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Joe Drape of The New York Times described Zayat as "controversial" and "one of the most successful and flamboyant owners in thoroughbred racing."
Zayat was born in Cairo, Egypt to a wealthy family, and grew up in an ethnically diverse (majority jewish) neighborhood where he learned to ride horses. At age 18, he moved to the United States where he attended college and ultimately obtained a master's degree in business and public health from Boston University. After a brief career in commercial real estate in New York City, he returned to Egypt, and for about a decade ran the Al-Ahram Beverages Company, which he owned as part of an investment group. After the company was purchased by Heineken in 2002, Zayat stayed on a few more years but also began investing in racehorses and established Zayat Stables in 2005. Upon returning to the United States for good in 2007, he made his racing stables his full-time occupation, working with his son, Justin, to build the business.
While generally successful with his race horses, Zayat's goal of winning the Kentucky Derby eluded him several times, including three second-place finishes, until his win with American Pharoah. He also filed bankruptcy proceedings in 2010 when a bank called a note due and tried to foreclose on his horses. Zayat Stables successfully completed its Chapter 11 reorganization, but Zayat was next plagued by legal issues related to his penchant for betting large sums of money on horse racing. Nonetheless, Zayat generated considerable positive publicity on social media for his efforts to save his racehorse Paynter from life-threatening health problems, a successful struggle that earned the colt the 2012 NTRA Moment of the Year Award and Secretariat Vox Populi Award.
The Zayat family lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with his wife, Joanne. They have four children: Ashley, Justin, Benjamin, and Emma. Their eldest son, Justin, helps run the Zayat Stables operation, and their youngest, Emma, inspired the name of Littleprincessemma, the dam of American Pharoah.
- ^ "American Pharoah is Unanimous 2015 Horse of the Year". 16 January 2016.