Ed Borgerding is the boss at Abu Dhabi Media Company, the diversified media and entertainment conglomerate which is based in the UAE capital and has the substantial wealth of once of the world's richest SWFs behind it.

At three years old, ADMC is a global firm with multimillion-dollar deals to its name. Among them are Imagenation, a $1bn fund to bankroll Hollywood films; a $750m deal with Warner Bros to produce video games and films; a ten percent stake in music video site Vevo and an undisclosed holding in online games giant, Gazillion.

ADMC and Borgerding launched English-language daily newspaper The National in the UAE, and even those who don't bother with the news pages will have the Canadian-born CEO to thank when they turn on their televisions on August 14, for the start of the English Premier League (EPL) football season.

Borgerding directed ADMC's 2009 purchase of the Middle East broadcast rights to the EPL for an estimated $300m, and has been the driving force behind the launch of a number of HD channels to support ADMC's coverage.

Just don't suggest that ADMC has a blank chequebook at its disposal. "Our investments have to be profitable. This is a very well managed company. We have budgets, we have annual budgets, and we have monthly budgets," he told Arabian Business earlier this year.

Previous to his work at ADMC, Borgerding was executive vice president of Walt Disney International in Hong Kong, and senior vice president of Walt Disney International Television in Hong Kong and London.

At Disney International, Borgerding oversaw the operating units of the Walt Disney Company in the Asia Pacific region, including India and the Middle East. This included television, home video, consumer products, digital media, theatrical distribution and Disney Channels.