Son of Indian expat teachers, who migrated to Dubai in 1959, Sunny Varkey controls GEMS Education, one of the world's largest operators of K-12 schools. The private education firm secured CVC Capital Partners as its key investor in 2019. Sons Dino and Jay run GEMS as group CEO and deputy CEO, respectively. In June 2024, it got a $2 billion investment from a consortium led by New York-based Brookfield Asset Management. Other investors included Dubai financial services firm Gulf Islamic Investments, private equity outfit Marathon Asset Management and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan.