A day after the body of a prominent Emerati sheikh killed in a glider crash was found in Morocco, speculation is swirling around who will be tapped to take over his job as chief of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan ran the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), a fund reported to have assets of between $500 billion and $700 billion, and was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 27th most powerful person in the world in 2009.

He was also the younger brother of Abu Dhabi ruler and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the man leading the charge to find a successor to head ADIA.

Created in 1976 to manage Abu Dhabi’s bountiful oil proceeds, ADIA has assets ranging from stakes in Citigroup to Britain’s Gatwick airport.

Here are some stories from around the Web on who may soon be in charge of managing those assets:

Abu Dhabi may turn to ruler’s inner family for wealth fund job (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg reports that a succession plan is underway, throwing out some specific suggestions as to who it may be:

“One candidate to succeed him may be Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the owner of English soccer club Manchester City and another half-brother of Sheikh Khalifa, who’s on the board of ADIA and also serves as minister for presidential affairs.”

“Another is Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the son of the U.A.E. president, who is also on the ADIA board of directors. He was born in 1974 and serves as the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Finance Department.”

Glider death could spark dynastic struggle in Abu Dhabi (Time)

Time spoke with Abu Dhabi expert Christopher M. Davidson, senior lecturer at Durham University and author of Abu Dhabi: Oil and Beyond. He argues that “‘with Sheikh Ahmed out of the picture, the crown prince and his brothers are likely to move on ADIA,’” but they may see some opposition from “elements within the family that may oppose them,
including the President, who may want to place one of his two sons in the role.”

Abu Dhabi sheikh, sovereign fund head, found dead (Reuters)

“‘He is important but his death will not have a huge impact on the power structure within the family,’ said Mustafa Alani, Dubai-based analyst at the Gulf Research Center. ‘Certainly on the question of financial and economic issues, I think he will be missed. Definitely.’”

“Experts expect the leadership role at ADIA to remain within the ruling family. ‘ADIA is essentially a custodian of Abu Dhabi’s wealth, which belongs to the ruling family,’ said Khuram Maqsood, managing director at Emirates Capital.”

Find out more about Sheik Ahmed (Reuters)

(Photo: Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the younger brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, who is also president of the United Arab Emirates, is seen in a handout released to Reuters Dubai March 29, 2010, after his plane reportedly crashed into a reservoir 10 km (6 miles) south of the Moroccan capital Rabat on Friday. REUTERS/WAM/Handout)

Blockbuster’s biggest shareholder, and one of the market’s most prominent activist investors, is heading for the door, heaping another note of gloom to the video chain’s hopes to avoid bankruptcy.

Filings show Billionaire investor Carl Icahn cut his stake in Blockbuster by selling more than 13 million shares. Over the past week he trimmed his ownership of the Class A shares to 5.1 percent as of March 29, according to a federal filing. In January he reported a 16.9 percent stake. He also reduced his stake in the company’s Class B shares.

To be fair, Blockbuster is already positioning itself for a trip to Bankruptcyland, having said earlier this month that it might need to file for protection from creditors.

Blockbuster and Icahn go way back to at least 2004, when Icahn spent $83.8 million to buy a 5.8 percent of its Class A stock. At one point he served on the company’s board and publicly criticized then-Chief Executive John Antioco. Perhaps he is keeping the remaining stake just so he can continue to wag his finger.

So far, the road to restructuring is looking like a one-way street for the video rental chain. Blockbuster said on Monday it was not in compliance with NYSE’s minimum market value requirements, which requires listed companies to have a global market capitalization of at least $75 million over a 30-day trading period. The company faces a debt load of nearly $1 billion.

Wednesday’s top stories:

* Australia’s Macarthur Coal rejects a A$3.3 billion ($3 billion) takeover offer from U.S. coal miner Peabody Energy , saying it does not fully value the company and its growth prospects.

* As the number of poison pills, or shareholder rights plans, drops to the lowest level in a generation, corporations face investor pressure against renewing broad takeover defenses but feel a duty to have weapons at the ready to fight off bad offers.

* Ireland hits its banks with a hefty penalty to take loans off their hands and says they need at least 22 billion euros ($30 billion) in extra funds to recover from a property collapse that was worse than feared. AIB says it will sell assets in Poland, Britain and the United States.

* Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd, South Korea’s top life insurer, seeks to raise up to around 5.1 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in the country’s biggest IPO and second largest offering in Asia so far this year, sources say.

* Bharti Airtel Ltd clinches a deal to buy most of the African operations of Kuwait’s Zain for $9 billion, making it the No.2 cellular company on the African continent and setting India’s biggest carrier a tough financial and management challenge.

* Buyout firm TPG is in exclusive talks with Oaktree Capital to buy German packaging firm Nordenia International, people familiar with the process tell Reuters, as another so-called “secondary buyout” edges to a conclusion.

* Major investors in Forth Ports Plc (FPT.L) have backed its decision to reject an approach from a trio of shareholders and hold out for a higher bid.

* Terra Firma has restarted talks to license the North American rights for its struggling EMI Music unit to Universal Music Group for a fee estimated around $300 million over five years, a person familiar with the talks says.

For more on these and the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

And elsewhere on the web (some external links may require subscriptions):

* Indian conglomerate Essar Group will decide by June whether to move forward to buy three European oil refineries from Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) as part of its global expansion plan, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing Essar’s chief executive.

* Russian companies are eyeing a stake in France’s Altis Semiconductor in what could be a step towards diversifying and modernising an oil-dependent economy, Vedomosti business daily reports. Reuters story here.

* Redwood Trust Inc (RWT.N) is looking to float at least $200 million worth of securities backed by home mortgage loans, the Wall Street Journal says, citing people familiar with the situation.