The World's Ten Richest Dictators - Slightly Long But Good Detailed Article.

Biggins

Good article from todays English Times.
Its a pay per view paper so that would leave most here stuck to view it - here's the text of the article which I post because I think some might find it interesting.
...Well I hope so anyway.

Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/moneycentral/?blogId=Blog2999a3d0-fcd7-4efc-8f95-458d2da497afPosta69b40f7-9210-4e2e-9ed2-91f7f0351156&CMP=EMCeb1

The world's ten richest dictators

This week Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president Teodoro Obiang, was said to have commissioned a new yacht at a cost of $380million (£233million). That is nearly three times what Equatorial Guinea spends on health and education for its poor citizens each year, but the vessel does come with a cinema, swimming pool and restaurant. Sounds a lot of money, right? But it's mere peanuts to most on this list of autocrats- the president of Equatorial Guinea is only number ten. Though dictators tend to keep the true extent of their wealth under wraps these ten despots, kings and presidents have been branded as the richest in the world.

1. Hosni Mubarak, former president of Egypt- $70 bn
Whether Mubarak really has $70billion squirrelled away is disputed. If he does it will make him the world's richest man by a long way. Bill Gates has just $53billion. Research by Global Financial Integrity, a not-for-profit organisation that tracks illicit financial flows, says $57billion flowed out of Egypt between 2000 and 2008. The money is suspected to be stashed away in Swiss and other foreign bank accounts and real estate holdings in Manhattan, London and Rodeo Drive.

2. Colonel Gaddafi, President of Libya- at least $35bn

In recent days the US has seized $30bn of the Gaddafi family investments, Canada has frozen $2.4billion, Austria $1.7billion and the UK $1billion but no one is sure what else the family owns around the world. The investments include properties in the West End of London worth $455m and £324million of shares in Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times and Penguin books. Saif Gaddafi has considerable investments in Austria, where he lived in a luxury villa on the outskirts of Vienna and kept his white pet tiger in the local zoo.

3. President Suharto, former president of Indonesia- $35bn
Suharto was declared the world's most corrupt leader by Transparency International. He held the presidency for 31 years during which time he amassed billions of dollars. An investigation by Time magazine claimed that Suharto transferred $9billion from Switzerland to an account in Austria a few days after he resigned in May 1998.


4. King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia- $21bn

The King likes to do things in style. In November he flew to New York for treatment on his back after he slipped a disc. He chartered three flights to JFK Airport, arriving with an entourage of security team and film crew which drove into New York in a 40 vehicle convoy- 20 of these vehicles carried the luggage alone. He then block-booked an entire wing of the New York Presbyterian Hospital to recover from his treatment.

5. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei- $20bn

Brunei's wealth is based on massive petroleum and natural gas fields as well as investments made by Brunei Investment Agency that owns luxury hotels such as the Dorchester in London. The Sultan is not known for being a spendthrift. It is estimated he has 3,667 cars which cost him about $789million


6. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi- $19bn

Sheikh Kahlifa is building a six-storey palace in the Seychelles- in the process polluting one of the Seychelles main rivers from the sewerage of hundreds of South Asian workers that have been shipped in to build the palace. The Sheikh wasn't very happy about the official passport stamp of the Seychelles, a coco de mer, as the nuts resembled buttocks so he had it replaced with a plain square. His wealth is enormous but has been reduced by recent tough times in Dubai and a fall in the stock market. It's estimated he has lost about $5billion.


7. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai- $15bn
The ruler of Dubai is one of the biggest racehorse owners in the world, he owns 68 stallions and operates stables in six countries, including Japan, Australia and the US.

8. Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, former president of Tunisia- $5bn
Switzerland has announced it will freeze the assets of the former president, who ruled Tunisia for 23 years, so it can properly examine how much money he had. The president's wife has been called the Imelda Marcos of the Philippines for her love of shopping. The former president meanwhile was said to have kept $100million cash in safes in one of his palaces.

9. Fidel Casto, former president of Cuba- $900m

Castro has vociferously denied he is so wealthy- accusing Forbes magazine, which came up with the figure, of libel. His wealth is calculated on the basis that he is the beneficiary of all state-owned enterprise. He has said he is worth nothing adding: "Do they think I am Mobutu or one of the many millionaires, those thieves and plunderers that the empire [Washington] has suckled and protected?"

10. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea- $600m
He has been labelled Africa's worst dictator who allegedly deposited half a billion dollars from the national treasury into private family accounts in 2003 to "fight corruption". It is believed that he tightly controls the country’s overall oil revenues with little oil money making its way to poor citizens- 70 per cent of the population live under the United Nations Poverty Threshold of $2 a day.

Dravokivich

no imf lads in there eh? :pac:

anyhooo... who the heck needs a resturant on a yacht? surely a dining room would do?

Smcgie

Huh! Still no FF men up there, aww well it wasn't for the want of trying.

Biggins

Smcgie wrote: »

Huh! Still no FF men up there, aww well it wasn't for the want of trying.

LOL The powers that be mustn't have tracked down Berties Swiss safety deposit box account yet! :pac:
Sure it will be just full of horse racing slips anyway!

Hande hoche!

Good man Castro,not a bad showing.

Dravokivich

Sure how can you track the finicials of someone who didn't have a bank account until about 10 years ago?

Cute Whoooore indeed!

who the fug

One it is the London Times


Can somebody explain the difference between Dictator and King to them.


No mention of the Dirty Digger there

pickarooney

The Sultan is not known for being a spendthrift. It is estimated he has 3,667 cars which cost him about $789million

If that's not a spendthrift, what the hell is?

ballsymchugh

i wonder how much kim jong il has, counterfeit or not!

Biggins

Speaking of too much money: http://thedailyedge.thejournal.ie/kenyan-mp-thrown-out-of-parliament-for-bringing-too-much-bling-2011-3/

Badgermonkey

They may be rich but Baby Doc Duvalier tops it on name alone - he super fly.

Swampy

I'd do the same if I was a dictator.

nacho libre

The thing about Gadaffi is there is likely billions that will never be traced. It would not be a surprise to me if he is actually the world's richest man. It was a laugh to hear a politicial analyst for france 24 say Gadaffi is not a man interested in money:pac:

tricky D

who the fug wrote: »

Can somebody explain the difference between Dictator and King to them

One has a bloodline, the other aspires to start one.

Joey the lips

Dictators... Interesting. Very interesting...

I wonder how many the us considers friends and for how long.

take everything

nacho libre wrote: »

It would not be a surprise to me if he is actually the world's richest man.

You'd think he'd buy himself a proper suit.

marcusgunn

Spending >50% of your entire Ill-gotten) wealth on a Yacht? Methinks the figures got a little minced up somewhere