Manuel Rabaté has been Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi since 2016 and oversees all aspects of its operations and activity. The institution welcomed more than one million visitors in its first year, making it the 77th most visited museum worldwide in 2018. Rabaté has worked on the museum since its inception, joining Agence France-Muséums a year after the signature of the intergovernmental agreement between France and Abu Dhabi, first as CFO, then Secretary General and CEO (2008-2016). Rabaté was Deputy Director of Cultural Development (2005-2008) of musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac for its opening, managing the launch of the museum's first touring exhibitions, notably Masques - Beauté des Esprits at the Bahrain National Museum. He was Deputy Director of the auditorium of musée du Louvre (2002-2006), where he participated in developing new programmes accompanying the creation of the Islamic Art department. He is a graduate of Sciences Po (1998) and HEC business school (2001), and a Knight of France's National Order of Merit.