What Do We Know About Rihanna’s Boyfriend, Hassan Jameel?

It’s been two years since those pictures of Rihanna kissing a so-called – to use the go-to tabloid turn of phrase – ‘mystery man’ in a private pool in Spain entered the popular consciousness, and so it’s also two years since said man was revealed to be Hassan Jameel, a Saudi businessman and billionaire.

Despite the fact that the couple appear to be still going strong – Riri even spoke about the relationship, albeit without mentioning her boyfriend by name, in her recent interview with Interview, via Sarah Paulson – Hassan has managed to fly almost entirely under the radar. We’re talking about a man so mysterious, it’s actually pretty difficult to track down pictures where he appears as more than just a bowed head or background player in Rihanna’s entourage (and even those pictures are pretty rare). So, what do we actually know about Rihanna’s boyfriend?

His net worth is ridiculous

Hassan Jameel is rich. Really, really rich. Not just ‘does regular grocery shops at Whole Foods’ rich, or ‘accidentally went to Mahiki with Spencer from Made in Chelsea’ rich – he’s ‘fourth richest family in the Arab world according to Forbes’ rich. Based in Saudi Arabia, the Jameels have an estimated net worth of £1.6 billion, largely thanks to the fact that they own the exclusive rights to Toyota in eight countries. They also have their own professional football league, the Jameel league, comprising 14 teams.

He's 30 years old

So, he's just a few months younger than Rihanna.

He's charitable

Just as Rihanna is famed for her charity work (Harvard named her Humanitarian of the Year, after all), her boyfriend has a philanthropic streak, too. Hassan is the president of his family’s foundation, Community Jameel, which focuses on ‘investments in training, job creation and businesses aimed at helping communities transform themselves,’ and has partnerships with MIT and the V&A.

He's been married before

He was previously married to Sothebys art expert Lina Lazaar, having tied the knot in 2012 at the Paris Opera House (chic) but was already divorced when he and Riri first started dating. Apparently the former couple bonded over their shared love of art - cultured!

He might have dated Naomi Campbell

The Streatham supermodel was pictured with Hassan at British Summertime festival back in the summer of 2016 (they were watching Stevie Wonder, not Taylor Swift, for your information). Then, when photos of him and Rihanna were published the following year, Naomi seemed to unfollow the singer on Instagram in response. However, she’s since clarified that there is ‘no beef’ between the pair, much to our collective relief.

He once tried to break a Guinness World Record

Well, sort of. He certainly didn’t try very hard. In 2013, as deputy of his family company, he accepted a challenge from Guinness to break the record for – wait for it – the longest parade of Toyota cars. However, TMZ have since found that no formal application for a new record has been filed from Toyota Saudi Arabia – and the record has since been broken by Toyota Cyprus (with no less than 742 Toyotas). We can only imagine he was waiting to get the audio rights for Shut Up And Drive. The moral of the story? If TMZ attempt to dig up the dirt on your new boyfriend and an incomplete Guinness World Record attempt involving a long line of saloon cars is the worst they can do, he's probably a keeper.

He keeps a (very) low profile

Despite the fact that he has now been dating one of the most famous women in the world for the past two years now, Hassan is hardly a tabloid fixture. Bar the infamous Spanish pool pics and a brief appearance at Rihanna's 30th birthday and post-Grammys parties, he's remained almost entirely elusive - though in a nicely meta twist, some pap photos do show him hidden under Riri's Umbrella (ella, ella).

He's the reason Rihanna prioritised personal time

In a recent chat with Interview magazine, via fellow Oceans 8 actor Sarah Paulson, Rihanna revealed that around the same time she began dating Hassan, she realised she needed to make more time for herself. 'I got into a new relationship, and it matters to me,' she said, 'It was like, “I need to make time for this.” Just like I nurture my businesses, I need to nurture this as well. I’ll shut things down for two days, three days at a time.'

She also revealed that she is very much in love, and while she doesn't know if they'll get married ('We plan and god laughs, right?') she wants to be a mother 'more than anything in life'.