Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani died at the age of 74, according to a government website. He had led Qatar from 1995 until 2013, when he transferred power to his son, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
He transformed Qatar from a small emirate with limited global influence into a major regional and international actor. His rule saw the country become the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
The former emir established Al Jazeera in 1996 and created the Qatar Investment Authority to manage national wealth abroad. His leadership coincided with a more than twenty-fourfold increase in Qatar’s GDP.